Trump Bros Back a Drone Company as the Pentagon Prepares to Spend Billions

The Trump brothers are getting into the drone business just as the Trump administration has helped set the stage for billions of dollars in new spending on U.S.-made drones.

President Donald Trump’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., have backed a new drone company hoping to land deals with the Pentagon, which conveniently their father oversees as commander-in-chief.

Powerus, a drone company founded last year, announced Monday that it plans to merge with the Trump-backed publicly traded golf-course holding company Aureus Greenway Holdings.

Powerus CEO Andrew Fox told The Wall Street Journal the deal, known as a reverse merger, would allow the company to go public quickly, giving it access to the funding it needs to scale manufacturing and acquire more companies.

Powerus currently produces specialized drones, including “heavy-lift unmanned aerial systems capable of 500 lb.+ payloads, tactical defense platforms, and maritime surveillance systems,†according to a press release. The company has acquired three smaller drone makers over the past six months.

Investors in the newly combined company include American Ventures, an investment firm backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., as well as the investment bank Dominari Securities, which also has ties to the Trump family. Unusual Machines, a drone-parts company where Donald Trump Jr. is a shareholder and advisory board member, is also listed as an investor.

The merger comes just months after the U.S. Department of Defense announced plans to ramp up spending on “small, lethal drones†over the next two years. The Pentagon said in December that it plans to spend $1 billion to buy more than 200,000 drones by 2027.

Powerus is clearly aiming to capitalize on that demand. Fox told The Wall Street Journal the company is targeting production of up to 10,000 drones a month.

And conveniently, the company may face less foreign competition for those contracts.

In December, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it was banning new foreign-made drones and drone components due to national security concerns.

The move stems from a defense bill passed in 2024 that required regulators to review national security risks tied to foreign-made drones, particularly those from Chinese companies such as SZ DJI Technology and Autel Robotics.

The FCC said its review found drones and parts made outside the U.S. could pose “unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States and to the safety and security of U.S. persons.â€

Under the policy, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense can grant exceptions if specific models are determined not to pose a security risk.

This is the second investment the Trump family has made in drone companies in recent months.

Eric Trump is also backing Israeli drone maker Xtend as part of a $1.5 billion deal announced in February to take the company public through a similar merger with JFB Construction.