President Donald Trump is set to host leaders of five Central Asian countries for White House talks. Thursday's summit and dinner with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan come as he intensifies the hunt for alternatives to China for rare earth metals needed for high-tech devices, including smartphones and electric vehicles. Beijing expanded export restrictions over vital rare earth elements and magnets early last month before announcing it would delay the restrictions for a year. That came after Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held talks last week. Central Asia holds deep reserves of rare earth minerals, but it needs investment to develop the resources.