Trump's Two Sons Invest in Drone Company, Expanding Involvement in U.S. Growth Industry

The two sons of U.S. President Donald Trump have invested in a drone company. Foreign media reported that the Trump family has become more deeply involved in the drone industry, which is seeing new growth opportunities.

AP Yonhap News

U.S. drone company Powerus announced on March 9 (local time) that it is seeking to list on Nasdaq through a merger with golf company Aureus Greenway Holdings (AGH).

Powerus was founded by Andrew Fox, with Brett Velicovich—a former member of the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces—as a co-founder. The company was established last year and has since acquired three small drone companies. It aims to produce more than 10,000 units per month. AGH is a Nasdaq-listed company that operates the Kissimmee Bay Country Club and Remington Golf Club in Florida.

According to the company, the investors in this deal include American Ventures, the Trump family’s investment firm, and Unusual Machines, a drone parts company in which Donald Trump Jr. serves as both a shareholder and an advisory board member. Powerus is also a client of Unusual Machines.

The lead manager for the private placement and other processes is Dominari Securities. Dominari Securities also has Eric Trump and Trump Jr. serving as advisors. In addition, Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI) is expected to invest USD 50 million (approximately KRW 74.6 billion).

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that this deal has resulted in the Trump family becoming more deeply involved in the drone industry, which is now offering new growth opportunities.

The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced that, through the "Drone Dominance" program, it plans to spend about USD 1.1 billion by 2027 to procure hundreds of thousands of U.S.-made drones. The drone sector has long been dominated by China, and the U.S. aims to expand domestic manufacturing. Most of the companies competing for defense procurement contracts are small, so their sales volumes are not large. Additionally, at the end of last year, the U.S. implemented measures that effectively block the import and sale of new drone models from Chinese companies. The U.S. drone market remains fragmented.

Furthermore, the Financial Times (FT) explained that the Trump family’s investment in this drone manufacturer came just over a week after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, an event that shook global financial markets and caused a sharp rise in energy prices.

Velicovich stated that Powerus is working on acquiring a Ukrainian drone company or securing a license for its technology, with plans to manufacture it in the U.S. Ukrainian drone manufacturers face various obstacles in exporting their drones. The U.S. military is seeking to adopt Ukrainian technology. However, according to the WSJ, there are difficulties in purchasing such weapons directly from abroad due to regulations requiring procurement of American-made arms.

The Guardian reported that this deal could spark conflict-of-interest controversies. Typically, U.S. presidents have their financial interests managed by an independent third party. However, during his second term, President Trump entrusted the management of his businesses to his sons. Ethics experts point out that this alone is not a sufficient safeguard to prevent potential conflicts of interest.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.