Don Jr. investment → 10x in 5 months
Don Jr.'s venture firm invested in Vulcan Elements at a $200M valuation; after a $620M Pentagon loan, the company was valued at $2 billion within five months.
Where this was said
MAGA Grift: Don Jr.'s Pentagon Loans and Trump Golf Graves in Vietnam
At 1:05:20 · chapter starts 1:03:00
Tommy opens with a comparison to Reaganland-era scandals involving Billy Carter's two gas pumps, then unveils what he argues is an order of magnitude more brazen corruption. ProPublica traced a $620 million Pentagon loan to Vulcan Elements — a North Carolina rare earth startup — directly to a phone call from convicted felon Peter Navarro, who had visited Don Jr. in prison and appears in the acknowledgments of Don Jr.'s book. 1789 Capital, Don Jr.'s venture firm, had invested at a $200 million valuation; within five months the company was worth $2 billion. A similar setup may be in motion for Unusual Machines, a drone parts company whose board includes Don Jr. and where he owns millions in shares. Ben frames this as the Trump family migrating toward the Pentagon budget as the biggest available prize. The second story involves the Trump Organization's $1.5 billion golf course in northern Vietnam: the Financial Times reports that Vietnamese families are being required to exhume the graves of relatives to make way for the development — a development Ben connects directly to Trump's Liberation Day tariff threats, which effectively coerced Vietnam into approving the project. [1] — Tommy Vietor "Don Jr.'s venture firm 1789 Capital invested in Vulcan Elements at a $200 million valuation. Three months later, convicted felon Peter Nava…" 1:04:15 [2] — Tommy Vietor "After Trump announced massive tariffs on Vietnam on Liberation Day, a Trump Organization golf course deal with Vietnam was announced. The F…" 1:07:35
The Don Jr. Pentagon Corruption Pipeline
Don Jr.'s venture firm 1789 Capital invested in Vulcan Elements at a $200 million valuation. Three months later, convicted felon Peter Navarro called from the White House to push through a $620 million Pentagon loan. The company was valued at $2 billion within five months — a 10x return driven entirely by a White House intervention. Don Jr. is also on the board of Unusual Machines, which may receive a similar loan.
Trump Vietnam Golf Course: Tariffs, Golf, and Exhumed Graves
After Trump announced massive tariffs on Vietnam on Liberation Day, a Trump Organization golf course deal with Vietnam was announced. The Financial Times now reports that families in northern Vietnam are being required to exhume relatives' graves to make way for the $1.5 billion Trump luxury development. The sequence — tariff threat, golf course approval, grave removal — traces a direct line of coercion.
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