# Congolese Influence > [!note] Scope > This page covers **Democratic Republic of the Congo's influence operations directed at the United States** — lobbying, funding, information operations and elite capture. > For the country itself see [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. For its history see [[Congolese History Hub]]. Most entries in this folder describe states projecting influence into American politics for ideological or security reasons. The DRC's 2025–26 campaign is different in kind and unusually legible: a government losing a war **bought access to the Trump administration through Trump-connected lobbyists, and paid in mineral rights.** ## The country A state of roughly 100 million people occupying the second-largest country in Africa, holding perhaps **70% of world cobalt reserves**, the world's second-largest copper production, roughly 15% of global coltan through a single mine it does not control, and an estimated $25 trillion in untapped mineral resources by one widely-cited figure. Its history — [[Congo Free State]], [[Belgian Congo]], [[Zairianization]], the [[First Congo War]] and [[Second Congo War]] — is mapped at [[Congolese History Hub]]. ## The 2025 campaign With [[M23]] taking Goma in January 2025 and Bukavu in February, [[Félix Tshisekedi]] made a public offer: preferential access to Congolese minerals for American companies, in exchange for security backing. The lobbying followed immediately, and the connections are the story: | Firm | Principal | Terms | |---|---|---| | **Ballard Partners** | Brian Ballard — RNC finance vice chair; Susie Wiles and Pam Bondi are former Ballard lobbyists | DRC contract signed **the same day the administration froze foreign aid**; renewed at a reported $100,000/month | | **Earhart Turner** | Karen Giorno, senior Trump 2016 adviser | **$5 million for six months** — the firm's first-ever lobbying deal. Later suspended | | **Von Batten-Montague-York** | Karl Von Batten | — | The aid context sharpens it: the DRC was the **largest single recipient of US humanitarian assistance globally in 2024, at $910 million**, roughly 70% of all aid to the country. That was cut. The lobbying contracts were signed into the gap. ## What it bought The [[Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity]] and the [[US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement]], both signed 4 December 2025. The second commits the DRC to a Strategic Asset Reserve of mining sites held for US companies, a right of first offer ahead of Congolese investors, and amendment of Congolese mining law, tax policy and potentially the constitution within twelve months — **without ever going to the Congolese parliament**. Also in the package: DFC letters of interest around $1 billion each for mining and infrastructure; a US-backed consortium taking 40% of [[Glencore]]'s Congolese cobalt; [[KoBold Metals]] with thirteen exploration licences; and a reported **$700 million five-year contract with [[Erik Prince]]'s Vectus Global**, originally scoped to mineral tax enforcement and anti-smuggling, deployed to frontline operations in South Kivu by January 2026. ## The reciprocal flow This is what makes it a genuine foreign-influence entry rather than simply a trade story. The influence ran both ways: the DRC bought American commitment with mineral rights, and the American commitment is now cited **inside Congolese politics** as authority for constitutional change. Carnegie's Christian-Géraud Neema reported in July 2026 that Tshisekedi is using the agreement's legal-reform clause to justify a third-term amendment — implicating Washington in it. Rwanda ran the mirror-image campaign. See [[Rwanda]]. ## See also [[US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement]] · [[Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity]] · [[Congolese History Hub]] · [[Conflict Minerals Hub]] · [[Rwanda]]