ABC News removed a report from its website Wednesday evening linking Pentagon contracts awarded to defense companies with investments made by President Donald Trump's sons, but did not provide any explanation for the deletion.
The article, published Wednesday with the headline "Trump sons' investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election," claimed that companies backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have received more than $6 billion in active or promised government contracts since their investments were made. The story focused on defense contractor Anduril Industries and 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm that lists Donald Trump Jr. as one of six partners.
According to the now-deleted ABC News report, 1789 Capital claimed a major stake in Anduril in June 2025 through a $2.5 billion investment. The article stated that since that investment, Anduril has been awarded 135 government contracts totaling approximately $1.8 billion, based on data from SAM.gov, the official government contracting system.
ABC News deleted the story from its website Thursday, replacing it with an error page. The network also deleted a promotional post on X (formerly Twitter) that had been shared by several Democratic lawmakers. The article remains accessible through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. As of publication, ABC News has not issued a correction, editor's note, or public statement explaining the deletion.
Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for 1789 Capital and former chief of staff to the director of national intelligence, publicly criticized the article before its removal. She stated on social media that the reporter had conflated fundraising with direct investment, saying that the investments mentioned were actually the total amounts raised during funding rounds involving multiple companies. Henning also noted that many of the companies mentioned had received government contracts during both the Biden and Trump administrations, which she said "completely negates the assertion by ABC that Don Jr and Eric Trump are doing anything wrong." She told Fox News Digital that she sent a detailed email to ABC News pointing out the errors and that lawyers would be in touch if action was not taken. She said she "really appreciates that they took it down" but called for a clear public explanation of why the story was published initially.
Fox News reported that ABC News faced legal threats related to the story, though the network has not confirmed this claim. When asked for comment, ABC News did not immediately respond. The deletion occurs as Disney, ABC News's parent company, seeks to end an FCC review of its broadcast licenses, which the company has characterized as a "retaliatory campaign" led by the Trump administration.
The story comes amid ongoing debate over potential conflicts of interest involving Trump family business dealings. Congressional Democrats, including Senators Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, Robert Garcia, and Tammy Duckworth, sent a letter to the Pentagon's inspector general in May requesting an investigation into the approved deals, stating that "refusal to investigate these serious allegations will raise significant concerns about whether your office is able to perform its statutory duty as an independent watchdog over DoD."
