Following New Pentagon Response, Warren and Blumenthal Press Hegseth on Failure to Protect Defense Contracts from Potential Trump Family Corruption

Following New Pentagon Response, Warren and Blumenthal Press Hegseth on Failure to Protect Defense Contracts from Potential Trump Family Corruption

New Pentagon response reveals no protections in place to prevent risk of Trump family corruption in defense contracts

"DoD appears to be oblivious to - and therefore unable to address - the potential for corruption created by the Trump family's investments in companies that stand to benefit financially from taxpayer-funded, DoD contracts."

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Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new response from the Department of Defense (DoD) indicating that there are no effective processes in place to prevent possible conflicts of interest and corruption involving President Donald Trump's family and the Department's awarding of defense contracts. In a new letter, the Senators Warren and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on this failure and pushed for answers regarding Trump's sons' latest investment in Powerus, a drone company.

"The involvement of the President's children cast a cloud of corruption and conflict of interest over any DoD contracts that this company may receive …Th[e] cloud grows larger and darker with the realization that DoD appears to have ineffective controls in place to prevent undue political influence or conflicts of interest from affecting contracting decisions that may involve AGH-Powerus," wrote the senators.

In January, the senators pressed Hegseth on five companies linked to Trump Jr. - through venture capital firm 1789 Capital - winning more than $70 million worth of loans and contracts from the Trump Administration. Earlier this month, DoD responded saying its conflict of interest review is limited to screening contracting employees' financial disclosure forms and nothing else.

"This answer indicates that DoD appears to be oblivious to - and therefore unable to address - the potential for corruption created by the Trump family's investments in companies that stand to benefit financially from taxpayer-funded, DoD contracts," wrote the senators.

Trump Jr. himself has indicated that this influence could be affecting DoD decisions, saying "[w]e helped craft some of [DoD's] messaging," and that he had influence over picks for DoD personnel, looking "for candidates who wanted to spend more on drones."

This mechanism allows "potential political favoritism by DoD officials who want to be in the good graces of the President or his family. DoD appears not to recognize this avenue of corruption, and your response to our letter indicated that the Department has no controls in place to prevent it," wrote the senators.

In early March, reports revealed that the President's sons are investing in drone company Powerus, which is "vying to meet fresh demand from the Pentagon and fill a hole left by the administration's ban on new Chinese drones in the U.S." In a press release, Powerus described the Trump brothers as "notable investors" and claimed the merger will "advance[s] American domination of drone industry and autonomous systems innovation."

"Reshoring U.S. supply chains is vital to national security…[b]ut the circumstances surrounding this new merger, and the involvement of the President's children cast a cloud of corruption and conflict of interest over any DoD contracts that this company may receive," wrote the senators.

The lawmakers pressed Hegseth on his plans to protect the military's contracts against conflicts of interest related to the President and his family, as well as whether the Pentagon has held any conversations with Powerus over drone production, by April 7, 2026.

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