Copyright The New York Times
On Wednesday morning in Riyadh, Donald Trump Jr. talked to a roomful of business leaders about what it’s like to make investments as the president’s son. “We understand what the administration wants to do, because we helped craft some of that messaging,” Donald Trump Jr. said about his investment firm, 1789 Capital, during a panel discussion in the Saudi capital. “So we can be on the outside, but still have that understanding of what they plan to do.” His comments came in response to a question about why investors should consider doing business with 1789 Capital, which focuses on private companies based in the United States. The firm’s investment thesis is focused on what he calls “patriotic capitalism”: rebuilding the American supply chain, growing the U.S. economy and helping it compete in new markets like artificial intelligence. The panel discussion was a featured event during the Future Investment Initiative, an annual gathering sometimes referred to as “Davos in the Desert” for its high-wattage attendees and arid locale. One of Donald Trump Jr.’s business partners, Omeed Malik, said that 1789 Capital holds particularly large investments in A.I. and defense technology companies. Among them, Mr. Malik said, are the autonomous weapons and systems maker Anduril Industries; the military machine parts company Hadrian; and all of Elon Musk’s private companies, including SpaceX, xAI and Neuralink. The New York Times has previously reported that SpaceX and Anduril, as well as Firehawk Aerospace, another of 1789 Capital’s investments, have secured Pentagon contracts awarded this year. Ethics experts have said the fact that the president’s son was involved with companies receiving such contracts was a new and particularly alarming conflict of interest. Mr. Malik said that 1789 Capital had also invested recently in a rare-earths mining company to help the United States compete in that market, which is dominated by China. Vulcan Elements, which manufactures rare-earth magnets and has received Pentagon contracts, announced a funding round in August that included 1789 Capital. “We want to complement all the great work that the Trump administration is doing within the private sector,” Mr. Malik said. He’s not the only one. The venture capital industry’s alignment with the Trump administration’s “America First” approach is reflected in several funds, including a $600 million “American Dynamism” fund at Andreessen Horowitz, which targets early-stage companies in industries like defense, energy, education and manufacturing. There is also a rising class of politically conservative start-up founders who pitch their companies in patriotic terms, like Palmer Luckey of Anduril. Donald Trump Jr. and Mr. Malik began planning investments together about five years ago, according to a person familiar with the firm’s inner workings, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters. The firm was officially founded in 2023, according to regulatory filings earlier reported by Reuters. In a statement, a spokesman for 1789 Capital denied that its proximity to power conferred any conflict of interest in its investing, saying that the firm “maximizes transparency and compliance, even though no one at the fund has ever worked in government.” He suggested that there were “serious conflicts” in business dealings by the friends and family members of Democratic officials. The first year of the new Trump administration has coincided with a period of rapid growth for 1789 Capital. Regulatory documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as recently as a few months ago pegged the firm’s assets under management at close to $900 million. PitchBook, a data firm, estimates the firm’s assets at $1.25 billion. The person familiar with the firm said that 1789 now manages roughly $2 billion. The Future Investment Initiative has long been a draw for business leaders and officials in President Trump’s orbit. Steven T. Mnuchin attended the event as Treasury secretary and has returned in recent years as a private investor, with capital from the Saudi Arabian public investment fund. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior adviser during the first Trump administration, also attended the conference during his time in public office and has continued doing so as a private equity investor, with $2 billion in capital from the Saudi Arabian public investment fund. (Mr. Mnuchin attended this week, but Mr. Kushner did not.) During his remarks on Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr. said that the trip was his first to the kingdom. He and dozens of other prominent event attendees dined with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, at the Al-Yamamah Palace on Tuesday night, according to an attendee and a second person who was briefed on the matter, both of whom requested anonymity to discuss a private event. “The opportunity over here in the region is spectacular,” Donald Trump Jr. said during the panel the following day. Rob Copeland contributed reporting from Riyadh and Ismaeel Naar from Dubai.
