ProPublica: Lawmakers Demand Answers After White House Intervened for $620M Loan to Firm Tied to Donald Trump Jr.

A group of Democratic lawmakers has demanded answers from the White House following a ProPublica investigation that revealed a top aide to President Donald Trump intervened to secure a $620 million Pentagon loan for a startup linked to the president's eldest son. The lawmakers, including Senators Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), and Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), as well as Representatives Jason Crow (Colorado) and Mike Levin (California), sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

They described the deal as revealing "a staggering level of corruption and influence peddling that superseded this process, enriching the President's son at the expense of U.S. national security and taxpayer dollars."

The loan was awarded to Vulcan Elements, a small North Carolina rare-earth magnet startup, about three months after Donald Trump Jr.'s venture capital firm took an undisclosed stake in the company. According to interviews and Defense Department records reviewed by ProPublica, the request to lend to Vulcan was made by Peter Navarro, the president's senior counselor for trade and manufacturing and a friend of Trump Jr.

Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering for funding, Vulcan's was the only deal initiated by a top White House aide, a Pentagon official told ProPublica. After receiving the White House request, defense officials asked staff to move at an unusually rapid pace.

"The call came from the White House: We have to get this done," a person involved in the deal said.

The lawmakers' letter asked whether Navarro intervened at someone else's direction, if the president was aware or involved, and who Navarro communicated with at the Pentagon. They also asked whether White House officials have communicated with federal agency officials about other companies linked to the Trump family.

"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, providing only the best products, receive taxpayer dollars," the lawmakers wrote.

Navarro and Trump Jr. have formed a close bond in recent years.

Trump Jr. visited Navarro in prison while he served time for defying a subpoena from lawmakers investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S.

Capitol. Trump Jr.

was one of the small group of people Navarro dedicated his latest book to for having "my back when it was against the wall." A week before the Vulcan deal was announced, Trump Jr. interviewed Navarro on his podcast.

That interview came shortly after Navarro had told Pentagon staff to make the massive loan, one defense official said.

President Trump dismissed the report as "more fake news" but did not elaborate. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Navarro called the story "fake news on steroids" in a post on X. A White House spokesperson said the administration is working "in the best interest of the American people" and that "the President's entire team, including Senior Counselor Navarro and officials at the Department of War, is working together and with private industry to secure America's critical mineral supply chain at Trump Speed." Trump Jr.'s spokesperson said the president's son does not discuss his investments with federal officials and did not speak to Navarro about Vulcan, adding that he "has no knowledge about how this deal came together." A spokesperson for 1789 Capital, the venture firm where Trump Jr.

is a partner, said it played no role in Vulcan getting the loan and did not learn about the deal before it was public. A Pentagon spokesperson said, "No company receives preferential treatment.

Outside affiliations, investors, or political connections play absolutely no role in the Department's funding decisions."

The loan was part of the Pentagon's effort to reduce U.S. dependence on China's critical mineral supply chains.

It represented a big win for Vulcan and its investors, with estimates of the company's valuation growing tenfold after the deal was announced. The deal is one of many actions by the Trump administration that have helped companies in which his family holds stakes.

However, ProPublica's reporting on the Vulcan loan marked the first time a federal contract award was directly linked to White House intervention. Other lawmakers also criticized the deal.

Senator Raphael Warnock (Georgia) called it "corruption to the highest degree," alleging on X: "They are looting this country. Dismantling it, selling it for parts, and lining their own pockets." Senator Patty Murray (Washington) called for a congressional investigation, posting on X: "It's just nonstop corruption from this White House, and Republicans in Congress are content to twiddle their thumbs and look right in the other direction.

Congress should be investigating and putting a stop to this kind of crooked self-dealing—not enabling it."