Joe Deaux, Sheridan Prasso, William Clowes and Michael J Kavanagh (Bloomberg) -- During a meeting at the White House last month, Trump administration officials urged an Australian mining executive to sell his firm's interest in a major African lithium project to a US company — an unusual session that offers a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the administration's deal-brokering as it pursues an ambitious and controversial policy on critical minerals. People familiar with the Jan.