Democrats handed ABC an exclusive story last week the network called, “Trump sons’ investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election.”
Nice story.
Too bad it was misleading and possibly libelous.
Oh, the men invested in companies that contracted with the Department of War, but Don Jr. and Eric did not make billions off their investments. And the work done by the said companies is unique and vital to our protection.
So after ABC paid their father $15 million to settle a libel by George Stephanopoulos for repeatedly calling Trump a rapist, ABC made the mistake of going after his sons. The network blew it, got called out and scrubbed the story from the Internet.
You know me. I found it. No one told KNEB to scrub. Here is the beginning of the story:
President Donald Trump announced a $6.6 billion investment with AI defense company Anduril Industries on Tuesday—the most recent government funding agreement into a company with investment ties to the president’s sons.
The Trump administration announced the Navy will support $2.9 billion of the total cost to help create a new facility in Baltimore County, Maryland, that will manufacture critical parts for the Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine.
“In a tremendous victory for our country and for the city of Baltimore, Anduril is investing $3.7 billion in a state-of-the-art shipyard that will be known forever as Arsenal-2,” Trump said at an event announcing the investment.
“Right here in Sparrows Point, you’ll build the next generation of American submarines, including autonomous subs, torpedo tubes, and critical components for our cutting edge Virginia-class attack submarines,” Trump said.
1789 Capital—a venture capital firm that lists Donald Trump Jr. as one of six partners along with three founders—claimed a major stake in Anduril in June 2025 from a $2.5 billion investment into the company.
Andrew Kaczynski of CNN tweeted, “This is absolutely wild per Status—ABC News completely retracted this story like two days ago just totally nuked it. No note, no explanation , no comment. It had been shared by tons of top lawmakers and democratic officials.”
That’s not quite true, but what do you expect from CNN? Secondhand information from a source you never heard of.
Two days later, ABC scrubbed the original story and began its revision:
Editor’s Note: CORRECTION: A version of this story published on Oct. 7 contained errors in the description of certain company investments, government contracts and event chronologies. After subsequent reporting, this version contains corrected information and additional context regarding some of those investments, contracts and events.
President Donald Trump and defense contractor Anduril Industries earlier this week announced a $6.6 billion investment to create a state-of-the-art shipyard in Maryland to manufacture components for Virginia-class submarines.
While the project was welcomed by many, it comes amid concerns raised by Congressional Democrats about defense companies that have received investments from a venture capital firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner.
1789 Capital—which lists Donald Trump Jr. as one of six partners along with three founders—invested $50 million into Anduril Industries as part of a larger $2.5 billion funding round last year, according to the defense contractor’s founder.
The investment, however, marked a relatively small stake in Anduril, which has been valued at over $60 billion. A spokesperson for 1789 Capital said that investment decisions at the fund are made by a three-person committee, which does not include Trump Jr.
So 1789 Capital’s investment is 1/1,000th of Anduril’s value and Donald Trump Jr.’s share of that 1/1,000th is even smaller. It reminds me of the gas well in Calhoun County that my wife owns one-third of one-ninth of some percent. Her royalty checks are less than a buck a year. I call her Jedda Clampett anyway. Yea ha!
Founded in 2017, Anduril Industries designs, builds, and sells Super Intelligence-powered autonomous systems, surveillance tools, weapons, and military software, primarily to the Department of War and allied forces.
It makes a lot of things—drones and unmanned aircraft, mass-producible cruise missiles, and a reusable vertical-takeoff jet-powered interceptor for counter-drone and air defense roles.
Apparently this stuff works. Space Force uses it. The company has grown rapidly, securing major multi-billion-dollar contracts and reaching high valuations around $61 billion in 2026 reports.
ABC made a big deal about its second Trump presidency contracts, but the contracts have been rising because the company is competent. By fiscal year, the number of contracts has grown: FY 2019: 10, FY 2020: 9, FY 2021: 8, FY 2022: 34, FY 2023: 49, and FY 2024: 60.
Just remember, 6 years ago ABC did not care about a presidential son who actually cashed in on his father’s power position. Hunter Biden outlined his illegality (as well as his sex and drug abuse) in a laptop he left at a computer repair shop.
ABC ignored the story—completely. The network also ignored evidence of Biden’s decline in mental acuity. Other networks even dismissed as “cheap fakes” actual evidence of Biden’s weirdness at events like the G7, D-Day commemorations, and a Los Angeles fundraiser, which showed him wandering, freezing, or sitting in an invisible chair.
Unlike Hunter who took a six-figure no-show job from a Ukrainian oligarch, the Trumps are investing their money passively in high tech companies that could in a few decades become trillion-dollar companies. Pretty cool.
Pretty American.