Trump gets 'golden share' power in US Steel buyout. US agencies will get
it under future presidents
[June 26, 2025] By
MARC LEVY
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump will control the so-called
“golden share” that's part of the national security agreement under
which he allowed Japan-based Nippon Steel to buy out iconic American
steelmaker U.S. Steel, according to disclosures with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission.
The provision gives the president the power to appoint a board member
and have a say in company decisions that affect domestic steel
production and competition with overseas producers.
Under the provision, Trump — or someone he designates — controls that
decision-making power while he is president. However, control over those
powers reverts to the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department
when anyone else is president, according to the filings.
The White House responded in a statement that the share is “not granted
to Trump specifically, but to whoever the president is" when asked why
Trump will directly control the decision-making and why it goes to the
Treasury and Commerce departments under future presidents.

Still, the wording of the provision is specific to Trump.
It lists what decisions cannot be made “without, ... at any time when
Donald J. Trump is serving as President of the United States of America,
the written consent of Donald J. Trump or President Trump’s Designee” or
“at any other time, the written consent of the CMAs,” a contractual term
for the Treasury and Commerce departments.
Nippon Steel's nearly $15 billion buyout of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel
became final last week, making U.S. Steel a wholly owned subsidiary.
Trump has sought to characterize the acquisition as a "partnership"
between the two companies after he at first vowed to block the deal — as
former President Joe Biden did on his way out of the White House —
before changing his mind after he became president.
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 The national security agreement
became effective June 13 and is between Nippon Steel, as well as its
American subsidiary, and the federal government, represented by the
departments of Commerce and Treasury, according to the disclosures.
The complete national security agreement hasn't
been published publicly, although aspects of it have been outlined
in statements and securities filings made by the companies, U.S.
Steel said Wednesday.
The pursuit by Nippon Steel dragged on for a year and-a-half,
weighed down by national security concerns, opposition by the United
Steelworkers and presidential politics in the premier battleground
state of Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is headquartered.
The combined company will become the world’s fourth-largest
steelmaker in an industry dominated by Chinese companies, and bring
what analysts say is Nippon Steel’s top-notch technology to U.S.
Steel’s antiquated steelmaking processes, plus a commitment to
invest $11 billion to upgrade U.S. Steel facilities.
The potential that the deal could be permanently blocked forced
Nippon Steel to sweeten the deal.
That included upping its capital commitments in U.S. Steel
facilities and adding the golden share provision, giving Trump the
right to appoint an independent director and veto power on specific
matters.
Those matters include reductions in Nippon Steel’s capital
commitments in the national security agreement; changing U.S.
Steel’s name and headquarters; closing or idling U.S. Steel’s
plants; transferring production or jobs outside of the U.S.; buying
competing businesses in the U.S.; and certain decisions on trade,
labor and sourcing outside the U.S.
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