ABC News Deletes Report on Trump Sons' Investments Following Legal Threats
The network removed a story alleging billions in Pentagon contracts after a venture capital firm denied key assertions and threatened legal action.
ABC News deleted a report on Wednesday that linked investments of Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump to billions in Pentagon contracts, following legal threats and accusations of factual errors from a venture capital firm involved. The report, which was published and then removed within 24 hours, focused on Anduril, a company that has secured significant government contracts.
Initially, the deleted ABC News story stated that 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm listing Donald Trump Jr. as a partner, had a major stake in Anduril. The report claimed Anduril had been awarded approximately $1.8 billion in contracts from the U.S. government since a June 2025 investment. The story suggested that these contracts were secured since Donald Trump's election.
Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for 1789 Capital and former chief of staff to the Director of National Intelligence, publicly refuted the report's claims. Henning stated that the company does not have a "major stake" in Anduril and that ABC News conflated fundraising with investment. She explained that the mentioned figures represented the total amount raised in a funding round, to which many companies contribute, rather than direct investments by 1789 Capital.
Henning also criticized the report for burying the lead that many of the companies receiving government contracts had done so under both the Trump and Biden administrations, thereby undermining the assertion that the Trump sons were acting improperly. She further claimed that ABC News did not seek comment from 1789 Capital before publishing the story.
Following these statements and the alleged threat of legal action, ABC News removed the report from its website. The link now indicates that the page is unavailable, and the network has not issued a public explanation or correction. An accompanying social media post promoting the story was also deleted.
Donald Trump Jr. commented on the deleted report, stating on social media that ABC News removed the article because it was false. The deleted story can still be accessed through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.