Trump's Son Is Poised to Profit From Pentagon Drone Proposal

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A small company that has been manufacturing motors domestically for only a few weeks and has Donald Trump Jr. as an adviser won a parts order from the Army.

By Eric Lipton
Oct. 24, 2025

It is a bold plan. A team of defense industry start-ups envisions a new fleet of miniaturized, unmanned aircraft carriers stuffed with autonomous killer drones, antiaircraft missiles and torpedoes that will take on just about any enemy at sea. And this group pitching the Pentagon comes with an unusual sweetener: close financial ties to President Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is positioned to profit considerably if this ambitious but unproven venture succeeds.

The proposal by the two companies — Puerto Rico-based Red Cat, with drone parts supplied by Unusual Machines, based in Orlando, Fla. — reflects the unprecedented role the president’s sons are playing, not only as supporters of their father’s policies but also as investors in ventures selling to agencies their father controls.

Unusual Machines gave Donald Trump Jr. 200,000 shares of its stock late last year in return for his help as an adviser. The shares are now worth about $2.6 million. Though officials at the company and the Pentagon say Mr. Trump’s son has not reached out to the Defense Department on their behalf, he has relationships with some high-level figures there.

Donald Trump Jr. helped screen candidates for top jobs at the Pentagon on behalf of his father after the election. He is also an important and unusually vocal ally of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, appearing at events with him at least twice this year. Don Jr., as he is broadly known, through these two defense contractors and others he is investing in, has become part of the famed Beltway military-industrial complex, even as his father is setting policy priorities that are likely to benefit the companies he has invested in.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/us/politics/trump-drones-pentagon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.wE8.cOfN.FXWv0zdyxRbc&smid=url-share

A family of grifters.