A group of lawmakers this week demanded answers from the White House after a ProPublica investigation revealed that the president’s aides intervened to secure a $620 million loan from the Pentagon for a startup connected to the president’s eldest son.
ProPublica’s reporting “reveals an astonishing level of corruption and influence peddling that supersedes this process, enriching the president’s son at the expense of America’s national security and taxpayer dollars,” wrote a group of Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Sen. Maisie Hirono of Hawaii, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado and Rep. Mike Levin of California.
Last year, the Pentagon announced a loan to a small North Carolina startup, Vulcan Elements, about three months after Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm acquired a stake in an undisclosed amount of rare earth magnets.
Interviews and Pentagon records reviewed by ProPublica show that the request for the company’s loan was made by Peter Navarro, the president’s senior adviser on trade and manufacturing and a friend of Trump Jr.
Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering for funding at the time, Vulcan was the only deal initiated by the president’s aides, a Pentagon official who was not authorized to speak publicly told ProPublica.
A second Pentagon official involved in the deal but not authorized to discuss it said that after receiving the White House’s request, Pentagon officials asked Pentagon officials to act with unusual urgency.
“It was a call from the White House: We have to get this done,” the official said.
In a letter to Susie Wiles, the president’s chief of staff, the lawmakers asked a series of questions about Navarro’s involvement in the deal, including whether he intervened at the direction of others, whether the president was aware or involved, and who he communicated with at the Pentagon.
They also asked more broadly about whether White House officials had contacted federal officials about other companies connected to the Trump family.
“The American people and our at-risk service members expect the Department of Defense’s contracting process to be fair, impartial, and competitive, ensuring that only the best companies with only the best products receive their tax dollars,” the lawmakers wrote.
Mr. Navarro and Mr. Trump Jr., who served as trade adviser during the president’s first term, have developed a close bond in recent years. The president’s son visited Navarro, who is in prison for defying a subpoena from lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Trump Jr. was one of the few people to whom Navarro dedicated his latest book, crediting him with “pushing me up when I hit a wall.” And a week before the Vulcan deal was announced, Trump Jr. hosted Navarro on his streaming show and encouraged his nearly 2 million subscribers to buy Navarro’s book. The meeting came shortly after Pentagon officials heard that Mr. Navarro was making a huge loan to Vulcan, one defense official involved in the deal said.
Asked to respond to the lawmakers’ claims and the ProPublica report, Navarro wrote in a text message: “An astonishing level of exaggeration. Fake news on the rise,” but did not elaborate. The White House did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Mr. Navarro did not respond to questions sent directly to him by ProPublica shortly before the first article was published. However, in a subsequent post to X, he called the article “fake news on steroids.”
Barkan had no comment. A White House spokesperson said in a statement that the administration is working “in the best interests of the American people,” adding: “The president’s entire team, including senior advisers Navarro and Department of the Army officials, are working together and with private industry to secure America’s critical mineral supply chains at Trump speed.” Trump Jr.’s press secretary said last week that the president’s son did not discuss the companies he had invested in with federal officials and did not speak to Mr. Navarro about Vulcan. He has “no knowledge of how this deal came together,” the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for 1789 Capital, a venture firm in which Trump Jr. is a partner, also said the firm had no role in securing the Vulcan loan and had no knowledge of the deal before it was announced.
A Pentagon spokesperson said: “No companies are receiving preferential treatment.” “No outside parties, investors or political connections have any influence on the Department’s funding decisions.”
The loan was part of a Department of Defense effort to provide funding to companies that help reduce the United States’ dependence on China’s critical mineral supply chain. This represented a major win for Vulcan and its investors. The company’s valuation is estimated to have increased tenfold after the deal was announced.
The deal is one of many steps taken by President Donald Trump’s administration to support companies in which his family owns stock. Government contracts and other benefits go to various companies linked to Mr. Trump. But ProPublica’s reporting on the Vulcan loan marked the first time that a contract award from a federal agency was directly tied to White House intervention.
Following the ProPublica investigation, many other members of Congress also criticized the Balkan Accord.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, called it “corruption of the highest order” and claimed that “they’re plundering this country. They’re dismantling it, selling it for parts and lining their own pockets.”
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called for a congressional investigation. “This is constant corruption from the White House, and Republicans in Congress are content to just twist their thumbs and look in a different direction,” she posted on X. “Congress should investigate and stop this type of distorted self-dealing, not enable it.”
