{"id":12183,"date":"2026-06-04T02:02:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T02:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/lawmakers-demand-answers-about-620m-pentagon-loan-to-firm-tied-to-trump-jr\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T02:02:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T02:02:32","slug":"lawmakers-demand-answers-about-620m-pentagon-loan-to-firm-tied-to-trump-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/lawmakers-demand-answers-about-620m-pentagon-loan-to-firm-tied-to-trump-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers demand answers about $620M Pentagon loan to firm tied to Trump Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"
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A group of lawmakers demanded answers from the White House this week following\u00a0a ProPublica investigation\u00a0revealing that a top aide to the president intervened to secure a $620 million Pentagon loan to a startup linked to the president\u2019s eldest son.<\/p>\n

ProPublica\u2019s reporting \u201creveals a staggering level of corruption and influence peddling that superseded this process, enriching the President\u2019s son at the expense of U.S. national security and taxpayer dollars,\u201d\u00a0wrote the group of Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii as well as Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado and Mike Levin of California.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Pentagon\u00a0announced the loan\u00a0to Vulcan Elements, a small North Carolina startup, about three months after Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s venture capital firm took a stake of undisclosed size in the rare-earth magnet company.<\/p>\n

Interviews and Defense Department records reviewed by ProPublica show that the request to lend to the firm was made by Peter Navarro, who serves as the president\u2019s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing and is a friend of Trump Jr.\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering funding at the time, Vulcan\u2019s was the only deal initiated by a top aide to the president, an official at the Pentagon who was not authorized to speak publicly told ProPublica.<\/p>\n

After defense officials got the White House request, they asked Pentagon staff to move at an unusually rapid pace, said another person who was involved in the deal at the Pentagon but not authorized to speak about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe call came from the White House: We have to get this done,\u201d the person said.<\/p>\n

In their letter, addressed to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the lawmakers asked a series of questions about Navarro\u2019s involvement in the deal, including whether he intervened at someone else\u2019s direction, if the president was aware or involved, and who Navarro communicated with at the Pentagon.<\/p>\n

They also asked more broadly about whether White House officials have communicated with federal agency officials about other companies linked to the Trump family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American public \u2014 and service members that are in harm\u2019s way \u2014 expect that the DoD contracting process is fair, unbiased, and competitive to ensure that only the best companies, providing only the best products, receive taxpayer dollars,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.<\/p>\n

Navarro, who served as trade adviser in the president\u2019s first term, and Trump Jr. have formed a close bond in recent years. The president\u2019s son visited Navarro in prison while he served time for defying a subpoena from lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Trump Jr. was one of the small group of people Navarro dedicated his latest book to for having \u201cmy back when it was against the wall.\u201d And a week before the Vulcan deal was announced, Trump Jr. hosted Navarro on\u00a0his streaming show, encouraging his nearly 2 million subscribers to buy Navarro\u2019s book. That interview was not long after word came down from Navarro to Pentagon staff to make the massive loan to Vulcan, one of the defense officials involved in the deal said.<\/p>\n

Asked to respond to the lawmakers\u2019 allegations and ProPublica\u2019s reporting, Navarro in a text message wrote \u201cStaggering level of hyperbole. More fake news\u201d but did not elaborate. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Navarro did not respond to questions from ProPublica sent to him directly before the initial article was published. But\u00a0in a post on X afterward, he called the story \u201cfake news on steroids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vulcan has not commented. A White House spokesperson had said in a statement that the administration is working \u201cin the best interest of the American people,\u201d adding, \u201cThe President\u2019s entire team, including Senior Counselor Navarro and officials at the Department of War, is working together and with private industry to secure America\u2019s critical mineral supply chain at Trump Speed.\u201d Trump Jr.\u2019s spokesperson said last week that the president\u2019s son does not discuss companies he has invested in with federal government officials and did not speak to Navarro about Vulcan. He \u201chas no knowledge about how this deal came together,\u201d the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for 1789 Capital, the venture firm where Trump Jr. is a partner, said it also played no role in Vulcan getting the loan and did not learn about the deal before it was public.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo company receives preferential treatment,\u201d a Pentagon spokesperson said. \u201cOutside affiliations, investors, or political connections play absolutely no role in the Department\u2019s funding decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loan was part of the Pentagon\u2019s effort to fund companies that could help the U.S. reduce dependence on China\u2019s critical mineral supply chains. It represented a big win for Vulcan and its investors. Estimates of the company\u2019s valuation grew tenfold after the deal was announced.<\/p>\n

The deal is one of many actions by the administration of President Donald Trump that have helped companies in which his family holds stakes.\u00a0Government contracts\u00a0and\u00a0other benefits\u00a0have gone to various Trump-linked companies. But ProPublica\u2019s reporting on the Vulcan loan represented the first time the awarding of a contract from a federal agency was directly linked to White House intervention.<\/p>\n

A number of other lawmakers also criticized the Vulcan deal following ProPublica\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n

Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, called it \u201ccorruption to the highest degree,\u201d\u00a0alleging on X: \u201cThey are looting this country. Dismantling it, selling it for parts, and lining their own pockets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, called for a congressional investigation. \u201cIt\u2019s just nonstop corruption from this White House, and Republicans in Congress are content to twiddle their thumbs and look right in the other direction,\u201d\u00a0she posted on X. \u201cCongress should be investigating and putting a stop to this kind of crooked self-dealing\u2014not enabling it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by ProPublica.<\/em>\n\n<\/svg><\/p>\n<\/div>\n