A newly published investigative report has ignited fierce demands for government accountability after exposing that former President Donald Trump’s two eldest sons stand to gain significant personal profits from a federal-backed tungsten mining deal brokered by their father during his second term in the White House. Democratic congressional leaders have framed the taxpayer-supported project as the latest example of unprecedented, unregulated corruption spreading through the current administration.
According to reporting from The New York Times, Donald Trump, alongside members of his inner circle—including billionaire Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick—secured a formal agreement with Kazakhstan’s head of state that granted a little-known U.S. firm exclusive access to one of the planet’s largest untapped deposits of tungsten. This critical rare metal is deemed strategically essential by the U.S. government, as it is a core component in the manufacturing of missile warheads, military fighter aircraft, advanced semiconductors, and a wide range of other defense-critical and industrial products.
Months before the deal was finalized in September of last year, the Trump administration gave preliminary approval for up to $1.6 billion in federal financing to back the project, which is being developed by the U.S.-registered firm Kaz Resources, with construction planned for a rural mining site in northern Kazakhstan.
The investigative investigation documents direct financial ties between top Trump and Lutnick family members and the mining venture. Within just weeks of high-level negotiations held at the St. Regis Hotel, the report confirms that investors linked to Dominari Securities—a New York-based firm based out of Trump Tower that is partially owned by the president’s eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump—teamed up with other stakeholders to acquire a 20% ownership stake in a corporate entity connected to the Kazakh project. This stake puts the first family’s eldest children in line for massive windfalls as the project moves toward production.
For the Lutnick family, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s two sons, Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, who lead the major investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, also stand to profit significantly. The pair assisted one of the lead investors in the Kazakh deal raise $210 million in new capital for a separate linked business entity, a move that is projected to deliver multimillion-dollar gains to Cantor Fitzgerald, according to the report.
The investigation further uncovered that at least 14 separate companies working on federally backed critical mineral mining projects have confirmed financial ties to either the Trump family or Cantor Fitzgerald—beyond the Kaz Resources deal, these include major mining firms Perpetua Resources and USA Rare Earth.
This potential mining profit windfall is not an isolated case for the Trump family during their current return to the White House. A public “Trump Family Digital Grift Wealth Tracker” maintained by Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee estimates that cryptocurrency ventures spearheaded by the president’s two eldest sons have already generated more than $2.4 billion in cumulative profits for Trump and his immediate family since he retook office in 2025.