Problematic presidential family members are an American tradition as old as the republic. Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter Alice was such a wild child that her father said, “I can be President of the United States or I can control Alice Roosevelt. I cannot possibly do both.” Neil Bush, son of one president and brother of another, was a director of a savings and loan association whose implosion cost taxpayers a billion dollars. Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy, a colorful buffoon, was investigated by Congress for his relationship with the Libyan government.
But we have a new standard by which all future misbehavior among presidential offspring should be judged. When it comes to grasping for taxpayer money, shameless corruption and sheer moral repugnance, none who came before can hold a candle to Donald Trump Jr. He has cemented his position as perhaps the most distasteful and ethically compromised presidential relative in American history — and his father isn’t even halfway through his second term.
Before we proceed, it’s important to note that so far as we know, Don Jr. has not committed any crimes. But he doesn’t have to: When the rules have become so lax that the president can accumulate billions of dollars in a single year from crypto schemes, the largesse of foreign governments and almost too many penny-ante cash grabs to count, all that stops Don Jr. from enriching himself at public expense is shame or a sense of morality — and he is clearly possessed of neither.
We have a new standard by which all future misbehavior among presidential offspring should be judged.
In President Donald Trump’s first term, his strategy on using the presidency for the enrichment of himself and his family was to claim he was acting in accord with ethical guidelines — saying he was turning management of his companies over to his sons or that he wouldn’t pursue foreign real estate deals — while still finding ways to keep raking in cash from things like the properties special interests could book if they wanted to put money in his pocket.
But in his second term, Trump had a realization. When it came to pursuing his own business interests while president, “I found out that nobody cared,” he told The New York Times earlier this year. So now he’ll make money wherever he can — and there is no shortage of companies, billionaires and foreign governments eager to curry favor as they pursue their own interests.
Don Jr. wasn’t just going to sit by and watch Dad have all the fun. So he has undertaken his own frenzy of dealmaking, all of it seemingly based on the fact that he’s the president’s son.
Some of the enterprises are joint ventures with the whole family. There’s World Liberty Financial, a crypto company that has been the vehicle for some of the biggest players looking to give payoffs to the Trumps and get something in return. As an investigative report revealed, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser secretly invested half a billion dollars in the company. Not long after, the Trump administration lifted export controls on computer chips the UAE desperately wants to create its own artificial intelligence infrastructure (Commerce Department staff objected to the change, but the White House cites the UAE’s position as a U.S. ally.)
Then there are the initiatives Don Jr. is pursuing on his own. He is a partner in an investment firm, 1789 Capital, which invests in companies that just happen to benefit from government policy, like a rare-earth magnet manufacturer called Vulcan Elements. Not long after Don Jr.’s firm invested, the Defense Department granted the small firm a $620 million loan as part of a deal in which the government took an equity stake in the company.
An investigation by ProPublica, citing defense officials, revealed that in a highly unusual move, the loan was approved after the White House, specifically Trump’s loyal trade adviser Peter Navarro, pressured the Pentagon to approve the loan. “Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering funding at the time, Vulcan’s was the only deal initiated by a top aide to the president,” the outlet reported. The value of Vulcan Elements has increased tenfold since Don Jr. made his investment.
While the Trump administration seeks huge increases in defense spending, Don Jr. and his brother Eric have found a way to get on the gravy train: Invest in small defense companies, then watch as huge government contracts magically materialize. The Washington Post, citing “databases and news releases as well as data from PitchBook, a venture capital research database,” reports that the companies financially backed by the Trump sons “have collectively generated at least $3.2 billion in direct government business since the sons invested and an additional $3.1 billion in future contract options. Some have gained coveted spots on shortlists of preapproved contractors that can bid exclusively on up to nearly $200 billion in future work.”
Don Jr. has always had the air of a man desperate to please his indifferent father.
Then there’s the convoluted story of the Kazakh tungsten mine. As The New York Times reported, the Trump sons have extensive financial ties to a company called Kaz Resources. Not only did the U.S. government approve $1.6 billion in financing for the company, but the president also personally intervened with the president of Kazakhstan to ensure that Kaz Resources would be given access to tungsten reserves in the country. (White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the president knew “nothing” about his sons’ involvement with the Kazakh mining deal and that “They would absolutely do nothing that would put the president in a place of conflict of interest.”)
We’re not done yet. Don Jr. is a paid adviser to both Kalshi and Polymarket, the gambling sites (excuse me, “prediction markets”) that seek to turn every moment of human activity into an opportunity for betting and have become magnets for heretofore unimagined forms of insider fraud. No doubt the companies are happy to call on Don Jr.’s expertise and advice, as the federal government treats them with the lightest regulatory touch imaginable and takes their side against states seeking to regulate them.
To round out our survey, Don Jr. is friendly with the recently arrested Andrew Tate, the proud misogynist and manosphere influencer who has been charged in Great Britain with multiple counts of rape and sex trafficking. Multiple women told their harrowing stories of abuse at the hands of Tate and his brother to The New Yorker (the brothers deny all the charges).
After they connected on social media, Tate said in 2018, he went to Trump Tower to meet the president’s son, and “We still inbox each other every couple of days.” A friendship with Tate, one of the most despicable human beings on the planet, ought to be enough in itself to win one prime seating at the Lake of Fire for all eternity.
Don Jr. has always had the air of a man desperate to please his indifferent father. This spring, the president couldn’t even be bothered to attend his son’s wedding. But if he keeps this up, he’ll be able to say, “See Dad, I’m just as greedy and corrupt as you!” It’s an achievement no presidential relative can match.
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