Last November, only six days after his father was elected president, Donald Trump Jr. had a career that at least seemed a little strange. He became a partner of a small investment startup called 1789 capital, which is based in Palm Beach, Florida, 2 km from Mar-A-Lago. At that time, 1789 was a microscopic actor in the world of venture capital. He had raised less than $ 200 million and had not made a lot of investments beyond the management of a group that invested $ 15 million in the new media company of Tucker Carlson. Its objective, according to its founders, is to create a “parallel economy”, investing in “anti-reveal” companies that align with Maga values.
Since Trump joined 1789, his wallet began to flourish. Despite its small size, the company obtained actions in several coveted offers, including SpaceX from Elon Musk. Actions, which are widely considered as an almost certain home run, are essentially an initiate agreement: to participate in the offer, you usually have to receive an invitation from someone already in the club. In addition, 1789 invested in the artificial intelligence society of Musk, XAI, as well as a handful of startups that have received or competed for contracts from the Ministry of Defense. Almost overnight, a venture capital company involving the president’s son has become an important beneficiary of the federal bureaucracy for a long time by President Trump as “Le Marais”.
There is nothing wrong with an investment company that makes bets according to its connections – it is an integral part of the VC game. And there is no evidence that one of the agreements of 1789 violates the laws prohibiting favoritism with individual entrepreneurs. But given their potential for creating a conflict of interest, the company’s investments have alarmed the initiates of Washington familiar with the process. In addition, the lack of transparency of the Trump administration – in particular around the movements made by Musk and Doge – makes it impossible to know if the president’s family wins badly by channeling public affairs towards companies in which he invests.
“This certainly raises serious concerns about the appearance of corruption, because Trump’s family benefits,” said Laura Dickinson, law professor at George Washington University who was a special advisor for the Department of Defense. “And when you look at this in the context of arbitrary cuts to other programs, this raises questions about the question of whether preferential treatment is given to the family and others that curry are favorable to Trump.”
It is not only legal experts who have concerns about the money flowing to Don Jr., a veteran investor of Wall Street, who personally examined the transactions of 1789, says that they allow the president to take advantage of the actions of the administration, even if no entrepreneur has received preferential treatment. “It is a way for Mar-A-Lago to be paid,” said the investor, who spoke under the guise of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the Trump administration. (The Trump organization and 1789 refused requests for comments.)
Since Donald Trump Jr. joined 1789 capital (founded by Omeed Malik, on the left), agreements that will allow him to take advantage of the administration of his father. Ryan Emberley / Amfar / Getty Images
One of the largest bets of 1789 in its push to monetize Maga came thanks to Musk. According to Bloomberg, the company has invested more than $ 50 million in SpaceX and XAI – the type of opportunity generally reserved for initiates with deep pockets, not with tiny funds without a history. The movement arrives at a time when The Trump Administration – which allowed musks and medications to redirect large expanses of federal spending – would have moved to the channel Billions of dollars of taxpayers in SpaceX for the use of its Starlink satellite system. In addition, the company obtained a contract of $ 5.9 billion from the American space force to launch useful critical national security charges. The agreement, announced on April 4, makes SpaceX the main supplier to launch the Pentagon, exceeding a rival in industry belonging to Boeing and Lockheed. This means that SpaceX benefits from government contracts, 1789 – and the president – share wealth.
1789 also invests in other companies which have attributed lucrative defense contracts. Andundil, a much appreciated defense technology company, currently collects up to $ 2.5 billion. The donors of the new fundraising round of fundraising have not been revealed – but I was able to confirm from several sources that 1789 is one of the investors. Andundil prospered as part of the Trump administration: in February, the company won a defense contract of $ 22 billion to provide soldiers with augmented reality glasses. A few weeks later, he beat nine competitors to win a $ 642 million contract to build a network of anti-drone defenses for the military bases. Given the company’s prospects, investors are fighting to obtain actions in the company.
Axiom Space – A Houston company looking for a contract with NASA to build a successor at the international space station – had discussions with 1789 to raise at least $ 100 million in fresh shares. And in January 1789, led a fundraising of 60 million dollars for Firehawk Aerospace, a Dallas technological company focused on the supply of the army with rocket fuel printed in 3D. In April, Firehawk won a defense contract of $ 1.25 million to carry out a study of its manufacturing systems. This month, the company published a photo on Linkedin of its founder posing with General James Rainey, the chief of the future command. With them, the founder of Aeon Industrial – another defense entrepreneur of the 1789 portfolio – who had just received an arms contract from the Rainey command.
“This creates a very complex ethics situation,” said Scott Amey, the lawyer general of the project on Government Oversight, a leading surveillance group. “If the president’s son benefits from these agreements, even if there are a few degrees of separation, is there an equitable playground? We simply do not know.”
Don Jr.’s investments were far from the time when Washington was developed compared to Jimmy Carter’s brother who markets his own beer brand. “I am old enough to remember when he was completely shocking that President’s brother Vende Billy Beer,” said Nell Minow, Vice-President of the Valueedge advisers, who was a lawyer for the Government at EPA, at the management and budget office and the Ministry of Justice. “At the time, there was no suggestion of a link with access or politics or contracts – it was simply considered inconcely.” With 1789, she adds: “We went to a whole new level: it is a red light flashing from a conflict.”
Don Jr. is far from being a passive spectator in 1789. According to Politico, he and his colleagues partner of the investment company launched a only invited club called the executive branch which will cost more than half a million dollars to join. Located in Georgetown, the high -end club will allow Schmooze’s commercial and technological assessments with closed -door administrative initiates – and simultaneously creating a source of potential offers for 1789.
Even some initiates who worked closely with Trump and his family see efforts such as efforts. “What they do is sell access to the president through the rear door,” said someone who knows the assets well. “Imagine a second if Hunter Biden had opened this club while Joe Biden was president. The Republicans would scream not only for his head, but for a complete and total dismemberment of his body. It is beyond the hypocrite.”
Don Jr.’s involvement in 1789 has a strange resemblance to what Trump exploded Hunter Biden for having done: negotiating the name of his father to win lucrative trade agreements with countries like Ukraine and China. During the 2020 campaign, Don Jr. proposed to debate Biden, insisting that Hunter’s nepotism exceeded his. “I’m not going to say that I did not benefit from my father’s family name, just as Hunter Biden did,” Don Jr. told Axios. “It would be stupid to say it. But I did not benefit from the office funded by my father’s taxpayers.”
Now, as a freshly struck venture capital, Don Jr. explicitly prepares for the congestion of the next four years of his father’s presidency. In the three months that followed the inauguration of Trump, 1789 raised around $ 500 million. According to Bloomberg, the company aims to collect $ 1 billion for its first fund by the middle of this year, and $ 3 billion at $ 5 billion for a second fund next year. Whatever the legality of the investments of 1789, it seems that the president’s eldest son largely benefits from the federal contracts that the administration of his father distributed. Even if there is not pro quo involved, there are still a lot of Chique.
Bethany McLean is a special correspondent at Business Insider.
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