Elon’s New Monetary Order?
Why does the richest man in the world keep turning up at President Trump’s side?
Back in May, Elon Musk flew to Beijing on Air Force One alongside the President – one of only two CEOs, out of the 17 on the trip, given a seat on the President’s plane.
A year earlier, he was at Trump’s side in Riyadh, where the President personally introduced him to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
And he was in the room again in September, seated at the head table with Trump and Xi Jinping when the Chinese leader arrived for a state dinner at the White House.
Yet while the media obsesses over his rockets and robots – almost nobody is asking why he keeps showing up at these major political events.
I believe I know the answer – and how it could impact every dollar you have saved and invested.
My name is Porter Stansberry.
For nearly 30 years, I’ve helped millions of Americans move ahead of the market’s biggest shifts.
In 2006, I warned that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were heading for collapse, years before they brought the American banking system to its knees. Barron’s called my work “remarkably prescient.”
In 2008, I told readers General Motors was in a “death spiral,” less than a year before it filed for bankruptcy.
And in 2020, I warned that COVID-era money-printing would unleash the worst inflation in a generation. It did.
Today I would like to share fresh research that could have a bigger effect on your personal wealth than anything I've exposed before.
Without a vote in Congress, and with almost no coverage in the financial press, President Trump has set in motion what I believe is the first reset of America’s money since 1974.
Assembled through a flurry of executive orders and a landmark pact signed by 13 nations inside the State Department. And as you’ll see, I believe Elon Musk sits right at the center of it.
The last time America reset its money on this scale, by some estimates it minted more than a thousand new millionaires a day... while quietly hollowing out the savings of millions who never understood what was happening.
And on December 14, when world leaders gather at Trump’s Miami resort, I believe this new monetary order could be presented as a done deal.
In my documentary, you’ll discover:
How Trump’s monetary reset connects everything from his tariff wars to his obsession with Greenland, and why I believe it’s all part of a larger plan to replace the petrodollar.
Why the U.S. government is buying ownership stakes in tiny American mining companies, a move not seen since the depths of World War II.
How the most popular investments of the last decade could be among the worst bets of the new monetary order.
The five companies I believe sit at the heart of what’s unfolding, including the name and ticker of my No. 1 move before December 14.
Saturday, October 24, 2026
Why the Pentagon Still Needs Brazil
One company sets the price with no exchange and no alternative.
On July 22, 2026, a 25% tariff hit most imports from Brazil. Almost every import. The administration carved out multiple metals by name, including niobium. The tariff was built to apply pressure. On this one material, the pressure ran the other direction.
That exemption tells you more about American supply chains than any trade report. It shows where geology overrides policy.
The Big Idea
The United States imports 100% of its niobium. One company in Brazil controls roughly 80% of the global supply. There is no exchange, no futures market, and no alternative at scale. The administration put a 25% tariff on Brazil, had to exempt niobium, and Brazil signed that advantage into law.
This Loan Shouldn't Be Possible
A federal board just voted unanimously to lend roughly $3 billion to one American mining company.
That loan is bigger than the company's entire market cap. Not half of it. Bigger than the whole thing.
One of those two valuations is wrong, and the papers get signed in the second half of this year.
One Metal, Total Dependency
Niobium is a metal most people never hear about. It goes into everything they depend on. About 77% of U.S. niobium strengthens steel for bridges, pipelines, and building frames. The other 23% goes into superalloys. These are heat-resistant metal blends used in jet engines, rocket nozzles, and hypersonic missiles.
The U.S. has not mined niobium since 1959. Every year, the U.S. Geological Survey reports the same figure: 100% import dependency. And the volume is growing, not shrinking. Imports rose from 8,230 metric tons in 2021 to an estimated 10,000 in 2025. Nearly all of that supply flows from one source. CBMM, based in Araxá, Minas Gerais, Brazil, holds roughly 80% of the global market. Brazil as a whole produces 93% of world output.
NioCorp is building the only planned U.S. niobium mine. It called CBMM the largest niobium producer in the world in its own SEC filing.
CBMM does not sell on an exchange. No spot market. No futures contract. It sets prices through private deals. Two foreign consortia each hold 15% stakes in the company. One is Chinese. One is Japanese-Korean. The country the Pentagon considers its primary strategic competitor co-owns the monopoly supplier.
Observation: The U.S. has zero domestic niobium production and imports 100% from a market one company controls through private pricing.
Interpretation: This is not a trade imbalance. It is a structural dependency with no market mechanism to check it.
The Tariff That Proved the Constraint
On July 15, 2026, the administration announced a 25% tariff on most Brazilian imports. It took effect one week later. But the Federal Register filing included an exemption list. Niobium was on it. The filing's own language explained why. The exclusion applies to materials where domestic supply is unavailable.
The Department of Defense had already flagged the problem. Federal assessments ranked niobium the second-highest supply-risk strategic metal. It awarded NioCorp a $10 million grant under the Defense Production Act. That law lets the government direct private industry for national defense.
The exemption was not a favor to Brazil. It was an admission. You cannot tariff a material you cannot replace.
Observation: The 25% tariff on Brazil specifically excluded niobium, citing unavailability of domestic supply.
Interpretation: Tariffs apply pressure only when an alternative exists. The exemption is a structural constraint, not a policy choice.
Brazil's Law, No Near-Term Exit
Brazil's former Finance Minister Fernando Haddad telegraphed this move a year in advance. In August 2025, he said critical minerals would enter tariff talks with the United States. Thirteen months later, President Lula signed Law 15,506 on September 16, 2026.
The law creates a national policy for critical and strategic minerals. It has teeth. The government can now review foreign acquisitions of strategic mineral producers. It can limit exports of raw, unprocessed ore. The government can require companies to disclose the volume, destination, and end use of exported minerals. Those rules apply to existing contracts, not just future ones. Brazil took a geological fact and made it statute.
The only U.S. project that could reduce this dependency sits in Elk Creek, Nebraska. NioCorp began construction on the main access portal in February 2026. The mine would cost $1.85 billion to build. It would not produce until late 2029 at the earliest. Even then, it would cover roughly half of current U.S. demand.
The financing is not secured. NioCorp needs the U.S. Export-Import Bank to fund about 65% of the capital. It has an offtake agreement with the trading firm Traxys. That contract guarantees a buyer for the mine's output. If the Export-Import Bank has not approved financing by December 2027, the deal can be canceled. The only domestic alternative is years away, partially funded, and contractually fragile.
Observation: Law 15,506 gave Brazil state control over strategic mineral exports. The only U.S. niobium project remains unfunded and years from production.
Interpretation: The country that holds the monopoly made it permanent policy. The dependency that forced the tariff exemption does not end this decade.
Quick Hits
The U.S. has not produced niobium domestically since 1959 and imports 100% of its supply.
Brazil produces 93% of global niobium, and CBMM alone holds roughly 80% of the market.
CBMM sets prices through private contracts with no exchange or futures market.
Chinese and Japanese-Korean consortia each own 15% of CBMM.
The 25% tariff on Brazil, effective July 22, 2026, specifically exempted niobium.
Law 15,506, signed September 16, 2026, gives Brazil review authority over foreign mineral acquisitions and export controls.
Elk Creek needs $1.85 billion, will not produce until 2029, and faces a financing deadline in December 2027.
What the Exemption Tells You About the System
The tariff told you what the administration wanted to do. The exemption told you what the system allowed. Those two things were not the same.
For niobium, here is what to track in the coming months. First, whether the Export-Import Bank approves financing for Elk Creek before the December 2027 deadline. If it does not, the Traxys offtake agreement can be canceled. The only U.S. project would lose its commercial anchor. Second, how Brazil implements Law 15,506. The law grants broad authority. The follow-on regulations will show how aggressively Brazil uses it. Third, whether future tariff rounds keep the niobium exemption or try to narrow it.
Between a mine in Minas Gerais and a missile facility in the United States, one company and one law control the path.
The Map So Far
The U.S. depends on one Brazilian company for a metal in its missiles and bridges. That country just wrote the dependency into law. The only domestic alternative is years from production and not yet funded.
Until next time,
The Navigator
