Lawmakers are looking for answers after a presidential aide secured a $620M loan to a startup linked to Donald Trump, Jr.
After an investigation handled by ProPublica, a group of Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, wrote a letter expressing their belief that the report revealed “a staggering level of corruption and influence peddling that superseded this process, enriching the President’s son at the expense of U.S. nation security and taxpayer dollars.”
In 2025, the Pentagon announced that a loan had been made to Volcan Elements, a North Carolina startup, a mere three months after Donald Trump, Jr.’s firm bought a stake in the company. The startup is a rare-earth magnet company.
Records show that the loan request was made by Peter Navarro, the president’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing. Navarro is also friends with the junior Trump and was even visited by him while Navarro served a prison sentence related to failure to answer a subpoena in reference to the January 6 investigation.
At the time, the Pentagon was looking at a number of companies, but Vulcan was the only company that had a top aide to the White House intervene in the deal, according to statements offered by an official at the Pentagon. In addition to this highly irregular behavior, upon receipt of the request, defense officials were asked to speed up the process to close the deal. This, according to Pentagon officials, is unusual.
“The call came from the White House: We have to get this done,” the official said.
In their letter, the lawmakers queried Navarro’s role in the deal, including whether his involvement was at the behest of someone else, if Donald Trump, Sr. was aware or involved, and who Navarro spoke with at the Pentagon. They’ve also asked if White House leaders have spoken with officials at other [government] agencies bout companies tied to the Trump family. The letter was addressed to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff.
“The American public – and service members that are in harm’s way – expect that the DoD contracting process is fair, unbiased, and competitive to ensure that only the best companies….receive taxpayers dollars,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
This revelation comes at a time when the administration is facing questions about its integrity. Earlier this month, a group of judges wrote a letter to the judge who heard Trump’s IRS case expressing concerns of corruption. This week, CNBC reported that the first family made $500 million in a deal where cryptocurrency was backed by the Trumps, while investors overwhelmingly lost money.
The calls for a formal congressional inquiry are already intensifying, led by Washington Democratic Senator Patty Murray. In a post on X, Murray blasted what she described as rampant White House corruption and self-dealing. She also took aim at congressional Republicans, warning that they are simply “content to twiddle their thumbs” rather than taking action to stop it.
