Defense Firms Backed by Trump Sons Have Won Over $6 Billion in Contracts

Defense companies tied to President Donald Trump's sons have secured more than $6 billion in active or promised U.S. government contracts since those investments were made, according to a review of federal contract data by ABC News.

The latest award: a $6.6 billion Anduril Industries investment the president announced on Tuesday. The Navy will fund $2.9 billion of the total for a new Baltimore County, Maryland, plant that will manufacture parts for Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines.

"In a tremendous victory for our country and for the city of Baltimore, Anduril is investing $3.7 billion in a state-of-the-art shipyard that will be known forever as Arsenal-2," Trump said at the announcement.

"Right here in Sparrows Point, you'll build the next generation of American submarines, including autonomous subs, torpedo tubes, and critical components for our cutting edge Virginia-class attack submarines," Trump added.

How did 1789 Capital stake out Anduril?

1789 Capital — a venture firm that lists Donald Trump Jr. as one of six partners alongside three founders — claimed a major stake in Anduril in June 2025 through a $2.5 billion investment. Since then, Anduril has won 135 additional U.S. government contracts worth roughly $1.8 billion, according to active awards posted to SAM.gov, the federal procurement system.

Anduril did not respond to a request for comment.

What other defense businesses have benefited?

The Trump-linked portfolio now spans drones, mining, quantum computing, aerospace and automation.

Within months of the 2024 election, Donald Trump Jr. joined Florida drone maker Unusual Machines as an adviser. The company had not previously held a government contract. In October 2025, it won a direct Pentagon order for 3,500 National Defense Authorization Act-compliant motors, with a follow-on order of up to 20,000 expected in 2026.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were listed as "notable investors" of Powerus in March 2026. Powerus landed its first Air Force purchase order one month later and was awarded up to $90 million in July for aerial-denial unmanned aircraft systems.

"Defense procurement is merit-based," a Powerus spokesperson said. "You can't sell the government something that won't protect a soldier, and nobody in the procurement chain risks their career routing a contract to a company whose equipment doesn't work." The spokesperson added that neither Trump brother is an adviser to Powerus and that their interest is "indirect, held through American Ventures, an investor in the company."

How deep do the manufacturing ties run?

1789 Capital invested in Vulcan Elements, a rare-earth mining firm, in August 2025. The same month, the Office of Strategic Capital loaned Vulcan Elements $620 million to expand operations.

The firm also put $60 million into Texas-based Firehawk Aerospace that August, according to PitchBook. Firehawk won a $4.9 million Air Force contract to "Advance Hybrid Rocket Engine Development" in the same period, the company said. It later reported awards of $3.2 million in May 2026, a multimillion-dollar Air Force Research Laboratory agreement in July and $24 million in Pentagon munitions contracts in August.

"Our award is solely the product of engineering expertise and capacity," Firehawk said in a statement. "We value the many investors who back that mission and share our conviction that the Nation's arsenal must be built to last."

What's at stake in quantum and automation?

1789 Capital raised $1 billion for California-based PsiQuantum in September 2025. PsiQuantum's pre-existing Pentagon contract has since grown by more than $157 million, and the company has separately signed a $100 million letter of intent with the Commerce Department and a $125 million agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in May and July 2026.

Eric Trump serves as chief strategy adviser for Foundation Future Industries, a humanoid-robot startup. He and the company's CEO, Sankaet Pathal, touted a $24 million contract in April as the company's first.

1789 Capital also invested $391 million into Hadrian, an AI-driven manufacturer, in early 2026. Hadrian landed its first public contracts within months — a $39.2 million Army agreement for machinery and manufacturing and a $900 million Navy deal for automated submarine factories.

What are Democrats demanding?

Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, Robert Garcia and Tammy Duckworth wrote to Pentagon Inspector General Platte B. Moring III in May, asking his office to investigate the deals.

"Refusal to investigate these serious allegations will raise significant concerns about whether your office is able to perform its statutory duty as an independent watchdog over DoD," the senators wrote.

"We hope that your office will take seriously these latest concerns about corruption in the DoD award process and fulfill your statutory responsibility by initiating a review," they added.

A spokesperson for the Trump brothers rejected any suggestion of impropriety.

"Don and Eric are experienced business leaders who have built and invested in businesses across a wide range of industries for decades, long before their father first ran for public office," the spokesperson said. "Their investment decisions are based solely on their independent business judgment and personal convictions and they do not seek to influence, direct, or participate in any government decision, procurement, award, regulatory action, or other governmental process."

The White House declined to comment.

Whether the Pentagon's inspector general opens a formal review will determine whether the funding flow draws federal scrutiny or remains a routine record of investor ties to the Defense Department's biggest awards.