Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr. Got a Deal After White House Intervened — ProPublica

White House adviser Peter Navarro initiated a request for the Pentagon to issue a $620 million loan to Vulcan Elements, a North Carolina startup in which Donald Trump Jr.'s venture capital firm 1789 Capital holds an undisclosed stake, according to Defense Department records and interviews reviewed by ProPublica. Defense officials accelerated the loan process at Navarro's direction, with Pentagon staff working nights and under compressed timelines to complete the deal in weeks rather than the months typically required for vetting such companies.

Vulcan was one of dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering for funding, but it was the only deal initiated directly by a White House aide to the president, according to a Pentagon official. Trump Jr.'s firm invested approximately $65 million in Vulcan in August 2025, three months before the Pentagon announced the loan. Following the announcement, estimates of Vulcan's valuation jumped tenfold, from roughly $200 million to approximately $2 billion, directly benefiting Trump Jr.'s investment.

Navarro and Trump Jr. maintain a close personal relationship, with the president's son visiting Navarro in prison and later featuring him on his streaming show just a week before the Vulcan deal was announced. A Trump Jr. spokesperson claimed the president's son has no knowledge of how the deal came together and did not discuss Vulcan with Navarro, though the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital operates under new leadership appointed by the Trump administration that prioritizes rapid deal-making through personal networks rather than competitive application processes.

The Pentagon and White House have denied preferential treatment, with a Pentagon spokesperson stating that outside affiliations and political connections play no role in funding decisions. However, Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration, stated that presidential aides should not intervene in agency contracting or lending decisions that financially benefit the president's family, calling such actions "corruption we pay for."

The Office of Strategic Capital is expected to deploy billions more in coming months to critical mineral and military technology companies. Additional companies tied to Trump Jr., including Unusual Machines, a Florida drone parts manufacturer where he sits on the advisory board and holds millions in shares, are reportedly under Pentagon review for funding, prompting Democratic lawmakers to demand investigations into potential self-dealing and conflicts of interest as the Trump administration deploys billions in government investments.

(Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-jr-vulcan-deal-white-house)