A short drive from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, in a small office a block from the beach, sits the headquarters of 1789 Capital, a firm founded just a few years ago with plans to invest in businesses aligned with conservative values.

Since Donald Trump Jr. joined as a partner shortly after his father’s reelection, 1789 Capital has rapidly grown to manage billions of dollars in assets with a strategy that closely reflects the president’s policies.

Companies backed by 1789 Capital have also significantly increased their federal funding under the Trump administration, a CNN analysis of contracting data found.

Ten defense, space and software companies that Trump Jr.’s firm is invested in have been awarded over $1.6 billion from federal contracts and grants in the first 500 days of Trump’s second term – 79% more than the amount they were awarded during the same time period at the end of President Joe Biden’s term. That doesn’t include a handful of other federal loans and subcontracts worth more than $1 billion in total that other startups backed by the firm are on track to receive under the Trump administration.

1789 Capital leaders have also backed companies that could financially benefit from policy moves made by the administration – including a firm promoting direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical sales, a company that sells testosterone and a vaping manufacturer.

There’s no evidence that 1789 Capital or Trump Jr. have pushed for the companies they’ve invested in to get any federal funding. Asked whether anyone with 1789 Capital has ever discussed federal contracts involving those companies with the Trump administration, Thomas Clare, an attorney representing the firm, said in a statement “the answer is unequivocally no.”

A spokesperson for Trump Jr. also said he plays no role in the contracting process. And the companies receiving the contracts say they have no knowledge of anyone with the firm swaying public funds.

“Don does not interface with the Federal Government as part of his role with any company that he invests in or advises,” Trump Jr.’s spokesman told CNN, describing him as a “lifelong businessman and serial investor with the same Constitutional rights as any other law-abiding private American citizen.”

At the same time, the younger Trump has publicly pitched investors that his proximity to the administration gives 1789 Capital a leg up.

“We understand what the administration wants to do, because we helped craft some of that messaging,” Trump Jr. said at a Saudi business conference last fall, referencing his work with the fund. “So we can be on the outside but still have that understanding of what they plan to do.”

1789 Capital, which pitches itself as dedicated to “patriotic capitalism,” grew from less than a billion dollars-worth of assets under management last year to about $3.5 billion now, its leaders say. Records show a significant share has come from foreign investors.

Other firms have launched funds in recent years that similarly aim to boost US industries and have invested in some of the same companies winning federal contracts.

Still, government watchdogs say the rapid growth of 1789 Capital and its investments in companies benefitting from the Trump administration’s agenda could undermine public trust because of the prominent role of the president’s son.

“There’s money from my paycheck and your paycheck that is being taken out in the form of taxes and is going directly into the pocketbooks of these companies and by extension to the Trump family,” said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, an interim vice president at the Project on Government Oversight. “It casts a black cloud over all the decisions that are being made when it comes to contracts.”

The White House rejected that criticism in a statement to CNN.

“This is the same, tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family, and his administration for a decade. President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public – which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. “There are no conflicts of interest.”

Skyrocketing growth

Days after Donald Trump’s presidential victory in 2024, Donald Trump Jr. appeared for an interview at a GOP donor retreat. In front of a few hundred conservative luminaries still buzzing over the big win, the presidential scion was asked whether he would work in his father’s administration.

Trump Jr. said he had other plans: joining a little-known Florida investment firm.

1789 Capital had been founded by a friend of Trump Jr., Omeed Malik, and two other financiers. Malik, a former Bank of America managing director, had left the Democratic Party during Trump’s first term after feeling abandoned and betrayed by the party’s support for the #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter and Covid policies, he told The Free Press. He met Trump Jr. in 2019, and later traded Manhattan for Palm Beach, Florida, where he became a Mar-a-Lago member.

In 2023, Malik and his cofounders announced the launch of 1789 Capital – named after the year the Bill of Rights was drafted – to invest in US companies. According to an SEC filing that year, the venture sought to raise $100 million.

At the Saudi investment conference last year, Malik said the firm aimed to “always look through a prism of how we can benefit the United States.”

The firm’s finances quickly spiked after Trump’s victory and Trump Jr.’s announcement about joining as a partner in November 2024. Less than a year later, 1789 Capital disclosed managing nearly a billion dollars in assets; Paul Abrahimzadeh, a partner in the firm, told the Financial Times in May that it now managed about $3.5 billion.

About 40% of the firm’s money comes from foreign investors, SEC filings show. The filings don’t disclose where the foreign investors are based.

Clare said other funds often have higher rates of foreign investors and noted that 1789 Capital only backs US companies.

That influx of money into the fund came as Trump Jr. embarked on a global tour, traveling to at least 19 foreign countries and territories since the 2024 election.

While a few of those trips appear to have been personal vacations, he met with business or political leaders in more than a dozen countries in Europe, the Middle East and other parts of Asia, according to social media posts and regional news reports. In some places, recordings show he specifically plugged 1789 Capital.

Malik has said the influx of foreign funds is normal for a growing investment group.

“It’s the same thing as what the Trump administration is doing with foreign direct investment,” he said at an event in May. “The idea is that if you have allied countries that want to help the United States, we’d be happy to take money from abroad and put it in America to create US jobs.”

He later challenged the event moderator to find “any asset manager that has over half a billion under management that doesn’t have money from the Gulf.”

But Hedtler-Gaudette said the fund could also give foreign entities a way to try to indirectly influence the administration.

“This is a way for large amounts of cash to be infused into the pockets of people who are close to the president without having to deal with all those pesky sort of disclosure and reporting rules you would have to if you were directly lobbying,” he said.

Federal funds increase

Since Trump’s reelection, 1789 Capital has invested in several government contractors that have succeeded in winning contracts and loans for more federal money.

Vulcan Elements, which manufactures rare-earth magnets for defense and other purposes, was selected for a $620 million loan from the Trump administration within months of 1789 Capital’s investment in the company. That loan came after Peter Navarro, a White House adviser and friend of Trump Jr., requested the loan be given to the company, ProPublica reported.

A Vulcan Elements spokesperson told CNN the company did not ask its investors to facilitate that loan, for which the company was picked after a year of diligence by multiple government agencies. Clare said that 1789 Capital had “zero knowledge any of these transactions were even contemplated” and learned about the loan from media reports.

The Pentagon denied in a statement that any company has received preferential treatment, and a spokesperson for Trump Jr. said he did not speak to Navarro about Vulcan. Navarro did not respond to requests for comment.

Separately, CNN’s analysis found that 10 federal contractors backed by 1789 Capital have been awarded slightly more funding in the year and a half of the Trump term than they did during all four years of the Biden administration, according to data from USAspending, the federal government’s contracting database. That includes federal obligations on both new and existing contracts and grants during the time periods.

One of the biggest recipients that 1789 Capital has invested in is Anduril, a defense contractor developing drones and other technology. The Trump administration has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to the company to build autonomous munitions for the military and surveillance towers for US Customs and Border Protection. In total, the business was awarded about $1.25 billion during Trump’s first 500 days, compared with about $760 million under Biden’s last 500 days.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Anduril headquarters in California last year, and the company quoted him in a social media post declaring his agency closely aligned with the company’s priorities: “We’re going to innovate, we’re going to scale, and we’re going to do it at cost. I think I just described the mission of Anduril,” Hegseth said.

Anduril did not respond to a request for comment. Founder Palmer Luckey has said the company “doesn’t get any special treatment” from the Trump administration and has argued it’s winning more contracts because “our products are better and faster and cheaper” than rival offerings.

Trump Jr.’s fund has also invested in Axiom Space, a Texas-based company working to build a commercial space station, which was awarded more than $300 million in government contracts under Trump’s first 500 days – up from about $153 million in the same period at the end of Biden’s term.

Axiom Space told CNN its most significant contracts have been awarded by NASA through open competition. “We are proud to have earned the confidence of NASA and the US government across multiple administrations,” the company stated.

PsiQuantum, a quantum computing company, signed a letter of intent with the Commerce Department in May for $100 million in funding, along with multiple other firms. A PsiQuantum spokesperson told CNN the company’s government partnerships have spanned multiple administrations, including as one of only two companies in an advanced stage of a defense research initiative.

One business that bucked the trend was Firehawk Aerospace, a rocket propulsion company. It was awarded about $4.5 million in federal contracts from the Trump administration, down from about $10.3 million during Biden’s last 500 days.

1789 Capital has also invested in Elon Musk’s companies, and a partner at the firm said at a forum in June that it counted SpaceX as its “biggest” holding. SpaceX, which has long received government contracts worth billions of dollars, has been awarded contracts worth a similar amount in Trump’s term to date as compared with the last part of Biden’s term. CNN excluded SpaceX from its analysis because it dwarfs the other contractors and is led by Elon Musk, who has his own connections to the Trump administration.

After a group of Democratic senators questioned the Pentagon about contracts and loans awarded to companies associated with Trump Jr. and 1789 Capital, the department stated in March that its Office of Strategic Capital “is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards and ensuring that its investment decisions are free from conflicts of interest” involving its personnel. Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez also told CNN that “outside affiliations, investors, or political connections play absolutely no role in the Department’s funding decisions.”

Many of those contracts came through a full competition, but some of the firms backed by 1789 Capital have seen an increase in no-bid deals as well since Trump returned to office. Altogether, about 18% of the funding awarded to 1789 Capital-associated companies during Trump’s first 500 days was tied to no-bid federal contracts, compared to about 7.5% of the funding under Biden’s last 500 days.

Clare said the companies 1789 Capital has invested in are “the hottest private companies in the market” and that they have also received investments from other major firms. “There is no possible basis to report that 1789 has done anything with respect to these private companies other than making the same smart investments as other well-respected funds and investors,” he said.

Testosterone, vapes and pharma

1789 Capital has also backed numerous companies that may stand to grow their businesses thanks to Trump administration policies.

BlinkRx, a 1789 Capital-backed company that has named Trump Jr. to its board, offers online prescription-drug delivery. Last July, President Trump called on pharmaceutical companies to embrace direct-to-consumer distribution. About a week later, BlinkRx announced an initiative to help pharmaceutical companies do just that. BlinkRx also hosted an event with drug company leaders and administration officials earlier this year.

A BlinkRx spokesperson said the company has not generated revenue from the administration’s drug-pricing orders or letters to manufacturers, adding, “We had no involvement with the development of any of those actions, and learned about them for the first time from press reports.”

1789 Capital has also invested in Enhanced Games, which hosted an athletic competition in May that allowed participants to use performance-enhancing drugs. Beyond its flagship event, the business also makes money by selling drugs such as testosterone injections and peptides to boost skin quality.

Under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has acknowledged personally using testosterone, the administration has pushed to deregulate sales of those same types of products. A panel convened by the FDA last year called for loosening restrictions on testosterone to make it more widely available, and Kennedy said earlier this year the administration would allow some peptides to be “more accessible.” Enhanced CEO Maximilian Martin told CNN earlier this year, “We have nothing to do with politics. Where you sit on a political spectrum is independent of the fact that enhancements can help you.”

Another 1789 Capital-backed company is the vaping manufacturer Juul, which the FDA allowed last year to continue selling e-cigarettes, following scrutiny that included a later-rescinded order during the Biden administration to stop product sales. Juul’s CEO referred to that FDA decision last year as a “big day for the company.” More recently, the FDA moved to allow companies like Juul to once again sell flavored e-cigarettes, despite public health concerns about the flavors hooking teens on smoking.

Potential new scrutiny

As Trump Jr. has grown his financial empire, he’s rejected parallels to another presidential son who raised ethics concerns – Hunter Biden, who pursued foreign business deals and landed a lucrative gig as a board member for a Ukrainian energy company when his father served as vice president.

Trump Jr. has repeatedly dismissed any notion that he has sought to profit from government connections in the way Republicans long accused the Biden family of doing.

“I get the ‘Don Jr. is the next Hunter Biden,’ and I say, it’s such a false equivalence,” Trump Jr. said at a forum in Qatar last year. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. We were businessmen both before, we will be businessmen after my father’s presidency.”

Trump Jr. may face increased scrutiny of those deals in the next two years, especially if Democrats regain control of the House or Senate and can launch committee inquiries with subpoena power. Some lawmakers have already called for investigations. After the House Oversight Committee’s top Democrat asked for a probe into defense contracts that may benefit the Trump family, the Defense Department’s inspector general met with committee staff and is preparing a response, a spokesperson for the office said.

Donald Sherman, the president of the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the trend of companies backed by Trump Jr.’s firm winning contracts “raises questions about whether American taxpayers are getting value for their taxpayer dollars.”

Even though Trump Jr. is outside of government, he argued, “he is on the inside of Donald Trump’s family.” (CNN)

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