Democratic senators sound the alarm on Pentagon backing firms linked to Donald Trump Jr.
By Matt Egan, CNN
New York (CNN) — Three Democratic senators are sounding the alarm about lucrative contracts and loans the Pentagon provided to companies linked to Donald Trump Jr.
In a letter sent Thursday to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the lawmakers – Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Andy Kim and Richard Blumenthal – requested information on whether DoD decisions to hand out loans and contracts to companies “associated with the president’s son may have been affected by conflicts of interest.”
“If this is the case, it could mean that the Trump family is profiting from funds appropriated by Congress to keep Americans safe, raising both ethics and national security concerns,” Warren, Kim and Blumenthal wrote in the letter, which was shared first with CNN.
The inquiry from these Democrats highlights the latest in a the laundry list of conflict of interest concerns surrounding the Trump family, including over personal investments made by the president and his business empire’s expansion into nuclear fusion.
After his father, President Donald Trump’s, November 2024 election victory, his son, Trump Jr., announced plans to join venture capital firm 1789 Capital as a partner.
1789 Capital is known for investing in conservative-linked businesses and products, including Tucker Carlson’s media company.
On its X account, the company describes itself as “Investing in great American companies that are building a country based on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, & Growth.” Many of these investments began during the Biden administration.
Once Trump took office, companies backed by the firm inked a flurry of deals with the new administration, the senators wrote in their letter.
An advisor to Donald Trump, Jr., said the firm had no involvement in managing the companies.
“All of 1789’s investments are passive minority positions in private American companies. 1789 has absolutely zero involvement in the operations of the companies they invest in,” said Arthur Schwartz in a statement. “Warren and Blumenthal know this but they’re betting that CNN’s reporters and readers are too dumb to understand what those words mean.”
CNN has not independently verified the assertions in the letter. The lawmakers did not allege 1789 Capital or Trump Jr. violated any laws.
Quantum computing, AI and rocket engines
Between April 2025 and November 2025, companies in 1789 Capital’s portfolio received more than $70 million worth of contracts from the Trump administration, the lawmakers wrote, citing data from research firm PitchBook.
The letter lists several examples of 1789 Capital-backed companies that were awarded DoD contracts last year:
- $45 million awarded to artificial intelligence company Cerebras Systems in April 2025
- $4.9 million awarded by the Air Force to rocket engine maker Firehawk Aerospace in August 2025
- $10 million awarded to rare-earth magnet manufacturer Vulcan Elements
$620 million loan to rare-earth firm
In November, Vulcan Elements announced a $620 million loan from the DoD’s Office of Strategic Capital and $50 million of federal incentives from the Department of Commerce.
As part of that deal, the company said the Commerce Department received $50 million worth of equity in the company, while the DoD received warrants in the company that give it the option to buy the company’s stock at a set price.
In the letter to Hegseth, the lawmakers noted the loan was more than twice as big as Vulcan’s entire valuation and represented the biggest loan ever delivered by the agency’s Office of Strategic Capital since it launched in 2022.
In September, the DoD awarded a $12.8 million contract to Unusual Machines, a drone company where Trump Jr. serves as an advisory board member and reportedly is a shareholder.
CNN has reached out to the DoD and White House for comment.
One of the deals cited by the lawmakers was a $10.8 million contract from the US Air Force awarded to quantum computing company PsiQuantum in April 2025. That company, which has been backed by 1789 Capital, also received a $22.5 million contract during the Biden administration in 2022.
‘Very legitimate concern’
Warren, Kim and Blumenthal posed a series of questions about the contracts and loans in the letter to Hegseth, including whether there was a competitive process for the Vulcan loan and a list of all calls, meetings and correspondence between DoD officials and Trump Jr. since Election Day 2024.
“We are concerned about the conflicts of interest of President Trump, his family, other administration officials, and any potential favoritism resulting in a waste of taxpayer dollars and a threat to national security,” the lawmakers wrote.
Given that Democrats are currently in the Senate minority, they cannot compel a response from Hegseth.
Richard Painter, the top ethics official under former President George W. Bush, told CNN the issue raised by the Democratic lawmakers is a “very legitimate concern” and urged lawmakers to examine it closely.
“If there is any favoritism for anyone – contributors, the Trump family or anyone else – that needs to be investigated and exposed,” said Painter, now a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.
Painter noted that there have been concerns about Pentagon contracts for decades.
“That’s not new. What is new is that I’ve never seen a president’s family be directly involved in the defense industry in this way,” Painter said.
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