{"id":1055314,"date":"2025-07-29T10:57:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1055314"},"modified":"2025-07-29T10:57:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:57:58","slug":"icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"ICYMI: Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s Drone Ventures Could Make a Killing \u2014 Thanks to His Dad\u2019s Billionaire-First Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"449\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1050776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png 1101w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=300,132 300w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=768,337 768w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=1024,449 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Point:<\/strong> \u201cLast November, shortly after Donald Trump was reelected president, his son Donald Trump Jr. joined a venture capital firm with investments in several defense companies. Later that month, he was appointed the advisory board of Unusual Machines, a small, Florida-based drone company incorporated in Nevada. \u2026 With his father\u2019s administration footing the bill for massive domestic drone expansion, good government watchdogs fear Trump Jr. could benefit financially, creating a conflict of interest, or at least the appearance of one \u2014 without anyone even finding out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2025\/07\/28\/donald-trump-jr-son-drones-unusual-machines\/\"><strong>The Intercept<\/strong><\/a><strong>: Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s Drone Ventures Could Make a Killing \u2014 Thanks to Dad\u2019s Big Beautiful Budget<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By Ellen Ioanes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Last November, shortly after Donald Trump was reelected president, his son Donald Trump Jr. joined a venture capital firm with investments in several defense companies. Later that month, he was appointed the advisory board of Unusual Machines, a small, Florida-based drone company incorporated in Nevada.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>It was a boon for Trump Jr., but not his last chance to make big money off drones \u2014 and his efforts to do so may get a big helping hand from dad.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>President Donald Trump\u2019s military procurement policies, defense budget, and recently passed government budget, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, includes $1.4 billion dollars for small drone production \u2014 where Unusual Machines has been making big investments.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>With his father\u2019s administration footing the bill for massive domestic drone expansion, good government watchdogs fear Trump Jr. could benefit financially, creating a conflict of interest, or at least the appearance of one \u2014 without anyone even finding out.<\/strong> <strong>The president\u2019s family is not subject to the same financial disclosures that federal officials must make about their financial and business interests.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Though many current and former elected officials have deep ties to the defense industry, Sherman said <strong>the Trumps\u2019 positions were unique in their scale and brazenness.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Point: \u201cLast November, shortly after Donald Trump was reelected president, his son Donald Trump Jr. joined a venture capital firm with investments in several defense companies. Later that month, he was appointed the advisory board of Unusual Machines, a small, Florida-based drone company incorporated in Nevada. \u2026 With his father\u2019s administration footing the bill [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1055314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ICYMI: Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s Drone Ventures Could Make a Killing \u2014 Thanks to His Dad\u2019s Billionaire-First Budget - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-29T14:57:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1101\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/\",\"name\":\"ICYMI: Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s Drone Ventures Could Make a Killing \u2014 Thanks to His Dad\u2019s Billionaire-First Budget - Democrats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-29T14:57:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png\",\"width\":1101,\"height\":483},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ICYMI: Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s Drone Ventures Could Make a Killing \u2014 Thanks to His Dad\u2019s Billionaire-First Budget\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\",\"name\":\"Democrats\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64\",\"name\":\"Shelby Reese\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shelby Reese\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/reeses\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ICYMI: Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s Drone Ventures Could Make a Killing \u2014 Thanks to His Dad\u2019s Billionaire-First Budget - Democrats","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_site_name":"Democrats","article_published_time":"2025-07-29T14:57:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1101,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Shelby Reese","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shelby Reese","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/","name":"ICYMI: Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s Drone Ventures Could Make a Killing \u2014 Thanks to His Dad\u2019s Billionaire-First Budget - Democrats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024","datePublished":"2025-07-29T14:57:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png","width":1101,"height":483},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/icymi-donald-trump-jr-s-drone-ventures-could-make-a-killing-thanks-to-his-dads-billionaire-first-budget\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ICYMI: Donald Trump Jr.\u2019s Drone Ventures Could Make a Killing \u2014 Thanks to His Dad\u2019s Billionaire-First Budget"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/","name":"Democrats","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/6a79beb4f30710331f5f8ad0cb779d64","name":"Shelby Reese","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bcc80f34f9bfa5c0480c4230734bb5bd8755daddce48f94e96eaf9e79accfe0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shelby Reese"},"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/reeses\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1055314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1055315,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055314\/revisions\/1055315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1055314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1055314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1055314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}