1789 Capital and the sons’ defense bets
A venture firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, and the drone and robotics startups the Trump sons advise or back. The Washington Post counted 15 defense, robotics and AI companies tied to the brothers’ funds that do business with the government; 1789 Capital invested in 11 of them.
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- Donald Trump Jr. is a partner in 1789 Capital, co-founded by Omeed Malik and Chris Buskirk. Trump Jr. advises drone maker Unusual Machines; Eric Trump is chief strategy adviser to Foundation Future Industries.
The money 3
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$3.2 billion
Other money
Direct government contracts won since the brothers invested by 15 companies backed by funds tied to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, by a Washington Post count. SpaceX and Anduril got 97% of it, and another $3.1 billion sits in future contract options.
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$620 million
Other money
Loan from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital to Vulcan Elements, a rare-earth magnet startup funded by 1789 Capital, awarded at the end of 2025.
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$70 million
Other money
Federal contracts 1789 Capital’s portfolio companies received from the Trump administration from April to November 2025, from PitchBook data cited by three Democratic senators.
What the labels mean
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- AdmittedThey acknowledged it, or their own filings and records show it.
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- ReportedNews reporting they deny or haven’t confirmed.
- AllegedAccusations from lawsuits, complaints or unnamed sources that haven’t been proven.
Reported and alleged 5
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Reported
Companies backed by funds tied to the Trump sons won at least $3.2 billion in direct government contracts after the brothers invested, a Washington Post analysis found.
The Post counted 15 defense, robotics and AI companies backed by funds tied to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump; 1789 Capital invested in 11 of them. They also hold $3.1 billion in future contract options. SpaceX and Anduril account for 97% of the direct contract money, and 10 of the 15 companies had government business before the investments. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said “There are no conflicts of interest,” and a 1789 spokesperson said the same of the firm.
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Reported
The Pentagon lent $620 million to Vulcan Elements, a rare-earth magnet startup funded by 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner.
The loan came from the Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital at the end of 2025, and Vulcan also announced $50 million in Commerce Department incentives. Three Democratic senators wrote that the loan was more than twice as big as Vulcan’s entire valuation and the largest the Office of Strategic Capital had made since it launched in 2022. Vulcan said it “neither requested nor urged its investors to facilitate the Pentagon loan.” Arthur Schwartz, an adviser to Trump Jr.: “All of 1789’s investments are passive minority positions in private American companies.”
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Reported
Drone maker Unusual Machines won a $12.8 million Defense Department contract while Donald Trump Jr. sat on its advisory board.
CNN reported that Trump Jr. serves as an advisory board member and “reportedly is a shareholder.” In 2026 Unusual Machines put $30 million into drone startup Powerus, the Washington Post reported. American Ventures, a Dominari unit in which Eric Trump says he is a passive investor, also holds a stake in Powerus. Unusual Machines CEO Allan Evans told the Post that Trump Jr. “had a very strong following and brand associated with the revival of domestic manufacturing.” Trump Jr. spokesman Andy Surabian: “Donald has no relationship with the federal government in connection with his role in any of the companies.”
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Reported
Robotics startup Foundation Future Industries, which named Eric Trump its chief strategy adviser, announced about $24 million in Pentagon research contracts in April 2026.
Fox Business reported it as a single $24 million contract and quoted Eric Trump: “We are America First. We have to win this race.” WIRED found no single $24 million award, only five related projects; two came with Foundation’s purchase of Boardwalk Robotics. One, a Boardwalk Air Force award of about $1.8 million, appears on the government’s SBIR.gov registry. In October 2026 ABC News reported that companies backed by the brothers had won more than $6 billion in Pentagon contracts. ABC pulled the story within a day and republished it with a note that it had contained errors in describing certain company investments. A spokesperson for the brothers told ABC they “do not seek to influence, direct, or participate in any government decision” and that “Attempts to portray their ordinary investment activities as improper are a deliberate distortion of the facts.”
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Alleged
Senators Warren, Kim and Blumenthal told Defense Secretary Hegseth that 1789 Capital’s portfolio companies got more than $70 million in Trump administration contracts.
Their letter cited PitchBook data for April to November 2025, including $45 million to Cerebras Systems. The senators did not allege that 1789 or Trump Jr. broke any law, and CNN said it hadn’t verified the figures. Arthur Schwartz, an adviser to Trump Jr.: “1789 has absolutely zero involvement in the operations of the companies they invest in.” An attorney for 1789 said the firm is one of dozens that invested in those companies.