NEW YORK (AP) — Among dozens of companies competing for Pentagon contracts to supply attack drones, one stands out.
Powerus is flush with cash and ballooning in size as it buys up rivals and has one other advantage: It is partly owned by President Donald Trump’s two oldest sons.
The Trump family has drawn criticism for expanding its real estate business into foreign countries that are trying to curry favor with the president and for making billions of dollars off cryptocurrency ventures benefiting from his policies. Grabbing less attention are new ownership stakes in federal contractors providing everything from rocket parts and rare earth magnets to AI chips and computer hardware.
“It’s corruption,” said Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. “Government decision makers will feel pressure to use contract awards to enrich the president’s family.”
The latest Trump venture is hoping to win some of the $1.1 billion set aside by the Pentagon to build up a U.S. manufacturing base for armed drones now that the Trump administration put a ban on importing them from China.
Powerus says there is no problem with it bidding for government money that could make the president’s sons richer.
“There’s no conflict there. Whatever they’re doing, is what they’re doing,” said co-founder Brett Velicovich, referring to the Trump brothers. “Our focus at the company has nothing to do with politics.”
Asked to comment about potential conflicts, the Trump Organization sent a statement from Eric Trump: “I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in. Drones are clearly the wave of the future.”
Founded by U.S. Army Special Operations veterans about a year ago, Powerus makes drones mostly for commercial uses, from spreading fertilizer to putting out forest fires. But it is bulking up fast to supply the Defense Department with armed drones like the ones being used by Ukraine and Russia and, more recently, Iran as it rains havoc on Gulf states allied with the U.S.
The company bought three rivals in the past six months and plans to buy more. It just raised $60 million from investors to fund the buying spree and hopes to tap additional financing by doing a “reverse merger” in which a private company gets a public listing by buying one already on the stock market, usually a business with little or no operations.
The public company in this case is Aureus Greenway Holdings, a Florida firm partly owned by Eric and Don Jr. that holds a few golf courses and is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Of the two oldest brothers, Don Jr., is the one most involved in federal contracting firms through a venture capital fund called 1789 Capital.
Shortly after Trump’s reelection, 1789 Capital made Don Jr. a partner and then went on a buying spree of its own, investing in 25 companies in one year. It had made only six purchases in the two years prior, according to data provided by research firm Pitchbook. Most of its targets appear to be seeking federal contracts or taxpayer funds or have already won them
Don Jr. and his brother have also started their own investment firm to buy stakes in U.S. companies designed to help their father revive America’s manufacturing base. After The Associated Press asked Trump’s chief business lawyer about language in a regulatory filing stating the firm would target companies seeking federal grants, he filed a new document with that language removed.
Don Jr. appears well-equipped to help Powerus. He has spoken out about the need for armed drones, appears knowledgeable about the technology and publicly endorsed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when he was coming under fire during his confirmation hearings.
Asked why Powerus picked a Trump company to merge with instead of the hundreds of others on Nasdaq with little or no operations, co-founder Velocovich said he was not a finance specialist and didn’t know.
“Our focus is 100% on getting the right technology in the hands of the warfighter,” he said, “regardless of who the investors are.”
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