Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr have backed the launch of a new company focused on tactical drones and working with the Pentagon. The move marks the latest step by the US president’s eldest sons into the military-industrial sector.
Autonomous Power Corporation, which operates under the Powerus brand and specializes in developing and scaling autonomous drone systems for military and commercial use in high-risk environments, plans to merge with Nasdaq-listed golf course operator Aureus Greenway Holdings. If the deal goes through, the combined entity will trade under the name Powerus. Investors in the venture include Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, as well as drone manufacturer Unusual Machines, another drone maker in which Trump Jr previously held a stake.
The US Department of Defense is already listed among Powerus’s clients. In October last year, Unusual Machines secured a Pentagon contract to produce 3,500 engines for drones and other components.
The size of the investment that Donald Trump’s sons have committed to Powerus has not been disclosed. The funds will be channelled through a dedicated investment vehicle, American Venture Partners, backed by Dominari Holdings—a financial technology and brokerage group headquartered in Trump Tower in New York.
Since their father returned to the White House, the Trump brothers have rapidly broadened their business interests, moving into new sectors—from cryptocurrencies to other industries that have benefited from the current administration’s policies.
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr are also involved in the investment company New America Acquisition I Corp, which operates under the SPAC model. In filings last year, the company said it intended to acquire a US business “well positioned to benefit from federal or regional incentives, such as grants, tax credits, government contracts or preferential procurement programmes”.
The South Korean investment fund Korea Climate & Governance Improvement Fund is expected to purchase $50 million worth of Powerus shares by April 6, AGH said.
Dominari president Kyle Wool said: “Drone technologies are becoming an increasingly important part of modern security and infrastructure, and America must take a leading position in this critical field.”
Matthew Seiker, interim chief executive of golf-course operator AGH, said: “The need for—and the applications of—autonomous technologies such as those being developed by Powerus are now making headlines amid events in the Middle East and other regions.”
AGH shares rose 6 percent on Monday—to $5.20. The company operates the Kissimmee Bay Country Club and Remington Golf Club in Florida.
The Trump family’s new investment in a drone manufacturer comes just over a week after the United States and Israel struck Iran—an event that rattled global financial markets and sent energy prices sharply higher.
Shares in Unusual Machines have risen by more than 20 percent since the war began.
The company brought Donald Trump Jr on as an adviser in November 2024. Its shares had previously nearly tripled in value in the weeks leading up to the official announcement of his involvement.
Shares in Dominari Holdings also surged. In the six weeks before a February 11 filing announcing the appointment of Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump to the company’s advisory board, the stock had risen by 580 percent.
The investment vehicle American Ventures has also backed the digital asset platform Tron, owned by crypto billionaire Justin Sun, as well as the combat sports company Mixed Martial Arts Group.