US president’s son Eric Trump invests in drone maker with gov’t contracts
Al Jazeera
Israeli firm Xtend recently won a US Department of Defense contract and is bidding for another before a merger with JFB Construction.
United States President Donald Trump’s son Eric is investing in an Israeli drone manufacturer, prompting renewed conflict-of-interest concerns as the Trump family expands its business holdings during its patriarch’s second term as president.
Eric Trump is investing in a $1.5bn merger between Israeli drone maker Xtend and Florida-based JFB Construction Holdings, a small construction company, in a deal aimed at taking Xtend public this year, JFB said in a news release on Tuesday.
Xtend is an Israeli company whose products have been used by Israel’s military in Gaza, including using its drones to map underground tunnels, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
Drone maker Unusual Machines, which tapped Eric’s brother Donald Trump Jr in November 2024 as an adviser, is also investing in the merger, JFB said. JFB builds commercial and residential properties, including multifamily communities and shopping centres.
Xtend touts its drones as “low cost per kill”, which has appealed to the US Department of Defense. In November, the firm said it had solidified a multimillion-dollar contract with the Pentagon but did not disclose the contract’s value.
