A New York Times investigation has revealed that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, along with the sons of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, acquired financial interests in a Kazakh tungsten project shortly after their fathers secured the mining rights. The Trump sons’ investment vehicle, Dominari Securities, took a 20 percent stake in a corporate structure linked to the project, while the Lutnick family’s Cantor Fitzgerald earned millions in fees by helping raise $210 million for a related entity. The final agreement between Washington and Astana was signed on 6 November 2025, six days after the Trump-linked investors entered the deal.

The project centres on one of the world’s largest undeveloped tungsten deposits, with reserves valued at up to $80 billion. Access for the American company Kaz Resources was granted after a telephone call between President Trump, Secretary Lutnick, and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Weeks later, Dominari Securities—based in Trump Tower and partly owned by the Trump sons—acquired its stake. The US government had already expressed preliminary interest in supporting the venture with up to $1.6 billion in loans and guarantees through federal development agencies. Viewed from Washington, the White House and Commerce Department reject any conflict of interest, insisting that all decisions are driven by national security and the need to secure strategic minerals essential for defence and technology, and to reduce dependence on China.

The investigation documents a broader pattern: the Trump and Lutnick families hold financial interests in at least 14 mining companies that are seeking or receiving federal support, with total government financing under consideration exceeding $8.9 billion. In Moscow, analysts note the geopolitical dimension—Kazakhstan aims to use the deal to balance Russian and Chinese influence in Central Asia. The tungsten accord is not an isolated case; a separate Politico report in April 2026 alleged that the Lutnick family may have used insider information on tariffs and government metals investments for personal gain, a claim the company denied.

Parallel to the mining deals, a $1 billion fund named American Ventures, also operating from Trump Tower and listing the Trump sons as advisors and shareholders, has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in paper profits through a different strategy. The fund invests in small, thinly traded companies using warrants, and the mere announcement of Trump family involvement has been enough to trigger sharp share-price jumps—in one instance, a 12 percent rise in a single day. Investments include a golf-club operator that merged with a military drone maker, yielding a paper gain of $165 million, and a Hong Kong-based infrastructure firm with mining plans in Kazakhstan, which produced a $132 million paper profit. The fund recently provided $8 million to a loss-making company that aims to build AI-powered smart cities in Bali.

The next factual milestone to watch is whether the US government finalises the $1.6 billion in support for the Kazakh tungsten project, and how federal watchdogs or Congress respond to the documented overlaps between family business interests and diplomatic negotiations. The question of how the Trump family’s commercial activities intersect with US foreign policy has previously been raised in connection with projects in Slovenia, Albania, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia.