Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump took a 20% stake in a Kazakhstan tungsten project after the Trump administration moved to support the venture, including approving preliminary applications for up to $1.6 billion in federal financing for Kaz Resources, the small American company involved in the deal. The agreement was signed on Nov. 6 and was not publicly disclosed at the time. Reports also say Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other senior U.S. officials were involved in negotiations with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev over the project.
The reporting says the Trump sons' stake was arranged through Dominari Securities, which is partly owned by them, and came shortly before Kazakhstan announced that Kaz Resources would gain access to a major tungsten deposit. At roughly the same time, Cantor Fitzgerald, controlled by the Lutnick family and overseen by Howard Lutnick's sons, helped raise $210 million in capital for a related entity, a role that such transactions typically make lucrative through fees. Kaz Resources owner Pini Althaus acknowledged the appearance of the arrangement could raise concerns, while also saying President Trump was personally involved in final negotiations with Tokayev.
Critics contend the Kazakhstan project is part of a wider pattern in which the Trump family has benefited financially from government action. A New York Times report cited in the coverage said one or both of the Trump and Lutnick families have ties to at least 14 companies working with the federal government on critical mining deals. Separately, an opinion article alleged that Trump's net worth has increased by more than $4 billion since he returned to office in January 2025 and accused him of making stock trades around policy decisions involving oil companies, Palantir and Nvidia. The same piece also alleged that Eric Trump secured a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency deal with a UAE-backed firm before the administration eased AI restrictions in ways that benefited a related entity.
Additional scrutiny has come from advocacy groups that argue administration policies have benefited Trump family-linked businesses while increasing costs for consumers. A recent report from the American Economic Liberties Project and Groundwork Collaborative criticized the TrumpRx platform, saying it could advantage a company tied to Donald Trump Jr., and argued that some tariff actions have raised prices for imported goods. Supportive accounts of the mining project have emphasized its size and strategic value, particularly given Kazakhstan's large tungsten reserves, while critics argue the overlap between official negotiations and family business interests creates serious ethical concerns.