A White House adviser personally intervened to push the largest loan in Pentagon history to a start-up backed byDonald Trump Jr., just weeks after Trump Jr.'s venture capital firm had quietly taken a stake in the very same company. What began as an obscure financing decision has now become a test case for how far political influence can reach into the Defence Department's balance sheet.

That is the finding of aProPublica investigationpublished on 28 May 2026, based on Defence Department records and interviews with multiple officials involved in the deal. Peter Navarro, President Donald Trump's senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing, is identified as the source of the directive. Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering for funding at the time, Vulcan Elements was the only firm whose loan was initiated by a direct aide to the president, according to a Pentagon official who spoke to ProPublica on condition of anonymity. The story raises the most direct conflict-of-interest allegation yet against the current administration, one where a senior White House figure personally accelerated a financial windfall for a company linked to the president's own family.

Vulcan Elements is a North Carolina rare-earth magnet company founded in 2023 by a student at Harvard Business School. When its first manufacturing facility opened in March 2025, the company's total funding stood at less than £7.9 million ($10 million), according to an interview published by Poets & Quants that month.

By August 2025, Vulcan had secured a £51 million ($65 million) investment round that included 1789 Capital, the venture capital firm thatDonald Trump Jr.joined as a partner following his father's re-election. Neither 1789 Capital nor Vulcan has publicly disclosed the size of 1789's stake. Approximately three months after that investment was completed, the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital announced a conditional loan commitment of £489 million ($620 million) to the company, the largest in the office's history and nearly a hundredfold increase on what Vulcan had previously raised in total.

Sources reveal that Peter Navarro reportedly rammed a $620,000,000 Pentagon loan through to a startup with ties to Trump's son:"The call came from the White House: We have to get this done.”pic.twitter.com/fHpXu8jydY

Staff inside the Office of Strategic Capital first learnt of the White House's push to fund Vulcan around September or October 2025, according to a Pentagon official involved in the process. The standard vetting period for companies being considered for strategic loans runs to many months. In Vulcan's case, the deal was closed in a matter of weeks.

Pentagon staff worked late nights under compressed timelines, according to a second source involved in the deal who also spoke to ProPublica on condition of anonymity. 'The call came from the White House: We have to get this done,' that source said.

Navarro did not respond to ProPublica's questions. A White House spokesperson issued a statement saying the administration is working 'in the best interest of the American people,' adding that Navarro and Pentagon officials are collaborating to 'secure America's critical mineral supply chain at Trump Speed.' Trump Jr.'s spokesperson denied that the president's son discussed Vulcan with Navarro or played any role in securing the deal, stating that he 'has no knowledge about how this deal came together.' A Pentagon spokesperson stated flatly: 'No company receives preferential treatment. Outside affiliations, investors, or political connections play absolutely no role in the Department's funding decisions.'

The intervening figure, Navarro, has a documented personal relationship with Trump Jr. that extends well beyond professional courtesy. During Navarro's imprisonment for contempt of Congress, he defied a subpoena from lawmakers investigating the6 January 2021 Capitol riot, Trump Jr. visited him in prison. Navarro dedicated his most recent book to a small group of people who had supported him during that period, naming Trump Jr. among them.

Donald Trump Jr takes a financial stake in a company…3 months later, the Pentagon gives it $620 million…after Trump’s White House told them to…And the company’s valuation rose from$200 million to $2 billion as a result.This is corruption.https://t.co/TLcOxyzOWO

Source: International Business Times UK