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Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr are backing a new tactical drone company that does business with the Pentagon, marking the latest foray into the military-industrial complex by the US president’s eldest sons.
Autonomous Power Corporation, which does business as Powerus and “builds and scales autonomous drone systems for military and commercial use in high-risk environments”, is set to merge with Nasdaq-listed golf course group Aureus Greenway Holdings. Investors in the new venture, which will trade as Powerus if the tie-up goes through, include Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, as well as Unusual Machines, another drone company in which Trump Jr has held a stake.
Powerus already lists the US Department of Defense as a client. Unusual Machines last October won a Pentagon contract to manufacture 3,500 drone motors and other drone parts.
The size of the investment into Powerus by Donald Trump’s sons was not disclosed. It will be channelled through a special purpose vehicle called American Venture Partners, which is also backed by Dominari Holdings, a securities and fintech group headquartered in New York’s Trump Tower.
The Trump brothers have rapidly expanded their business empire since their father regained the presidency, wading into cryptocurrencies and other sectors that have benefited from policies pushed by the new administration.
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr are also involved with blank-cheque investment group New America Acquisition I Corp, which said in filings last year that it would seek to buy a US company “well-positioned to benefit from federal or state-level incentives, such as grants, tax credits, government contracts or preferential procurement programs”.
Seoul-based private equity group Korea Climate & Governance Improvement Fund was set to purchase $50mn of Powerus stock by April 6, AGH said.
“Drone technology is increasingly central to modern security and infrastructure, and America must lead in this critical area,” Dominari president Kyle Wool said in a statement on Monday.
Matthew Saker, interim chief executive of golf club operator AGH, said: “The need for and uses of autonomous technologies, such as those produced by Powerus, are front-page news given developments in the Middle East and elsewhere.”
Shares in AGH rose 6 per cent on Monday to $5.20. The company runs Kissimmee Bay Country Club and Remington Golf Club, both of which are in Florida.
The Trump family’s latest investment in a drone manufacturer comes just over a week after the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran that has rattled global financial markets and sent energy prices surging.
Shares in Unusual Machines have gained more than 20 per cent since the war began.
Unusual Machines brought Trump Jr on as an adviser in November 2024. The FT last year reported that shares in the company almost tripled in price in the weeks leading up to its disclosure of the move.
Shares in Dominari Holdings rose by 580 per cent in the six weeks before its February 11 filing revealing that Trump Jr and Eric Trump had joined its advisory board.
American Ventures has also thrown its weight behind crypto billionaire Justin Sun’s digital asset platform Tron and combat sports company Mixed Martial Arts Group.
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