Washington Post: Trump’s sons invest heavily in defense tech as father’s administration pours money in
President Donald Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have amassed a portfolio of defense technology start-ups that are benefiting from new Pentagon priorities and spending, further entangling the United States’ interests and the Trump family’s financial fortunes in an area with immense stakes for national security.
As the current administration has made modernizing the tools of warfighting a centerpiece of its national security agenda, funds linked to the Trump brothers have invested in more than a dozen defense tech companies and other firms seeking businesses from the Pentagon and federal agencies, a Washington Post analysis finds, based on public federal contracting databases and news releases as well as data from PitchBook, a venture capital research database.
Most of the investments have taken place since Trump was elected president for a second time. The companies have collectively generated at least $3.2 billion in direct government business since the sons invested and an additional $3.1 billion in future contract options. Some have gained coveted spots on shortlists of preapproved contractors that can bid exclusively on up to nearly $200 billion in future work.
The Trump sons are part of investment groups that have poured money into established government contractors, such as SpaceX and Anduril, as well as lesser-known start-ups aspiring to build a new generation of nimble, tech-forward weaponry — from drones to humanoid robots that can either mow a lawn or use deadly force. Most of the firms are in the defense industry, but some focus on products not meant for the battlefield: One company is partnering with the luxury fashion label Prada to design spacesuits, and another is trying to build quantum computers.
While the Trumps have expanded their family business holdings beyond real estate, including large stakes in cryptocurrency and mining ventures, the extent of their holdings in defense tech is less known — and striking, given the sector’s reliance on government funding and its importance as the nature of 21st-century warfare rapidly evolves.
Together, SpaceX and Anduril account for 97 percent of the direct government cash in The Post’s tally and 42 percent of the guaranteed future contract options. Excluding those behemoths from the analysis, 13 other start-ups tied to the Trump brothers still have captured nearly $1.8 billion in long-term federal commitments and $103 million in direct cash under the Trump administration after the brothers invested.
Neither Eric Trump nor Trump Jr., vice presidents at the Trump Organization who do not hold official roles in the federal government, had notable experience in the defense tech industry before they began investing heavily in companies seeking Pentagon and other federal contracts.
Read more from the Washington Post here.
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