Trump, Lutnick Families Profit From Kazakhstan Deal They Brokered
NEWS & RESEARCH
In November 2025, President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick brokered a deal granting the US access to Kazakhstan's tungsten, a critical mineral used to produce missile warheads, fighter jets, and computer chips. Ahead of the agreement, the Trump administration pre-approved as much as $1.6 billion in federal financing for Kaz Resources, an American company that would mine the metal. But just weeks beforehand, Dominari Securities—an investment firm housed in Trump Tower and partly owned by the president's sons, Don Jr. and Eric—quietly joined partners in acquiring a 20% stake in a corporate entity tied to the project. Around the same time, Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial giant controlled by Lutnick's family and overseen by his sons, helped a lead investor raise $210 million for a related venture, likely earning millions of dollars in fees. Thus, while the government was still negotiating the deal, Trump’s and Lutnick’s families were positioning themselves to profit from the outcome.
SOURCES: Financial Times | New York Times | Daily Beast | Raw Story
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Government officials steering billions of dollars in federal funding toward projects that directly benefit their family businesses. The New York Times called it the latest in "a pattern of self-enrichment in the second Trump administration," as at least 14 mining companies tied to the Trump or Lutnick families are currently working with the federal government on critical mineral deals worth more than $8.9 billion in federal support. For instance, the Trump administration signed a nearly $700 million deal in 2025 with Vulcan Elements, a rare earth magnet manufacturer, just months after Don Jr.'s venture capital firm invested in the company. Democrats in Congress are calling for oversight to ensure taxpayer dollars serve the public interest rather than the wallets of government officials and their relatives.
SOURCES: New York Times | Financial Times
HOW TO FIX IT
Federal action:
Pass comprehensive conflict-of-interest legislation that closes existing gaps to: (1) Require the president, vice president, and their immediate families to disclose and divest conflicting financial interests, as the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Accountability Act proposes—closing the loophole that exempts the president from the federal conflict-of-interest statute (18 U.S.C. § 208) that binds nearly all other executive branch employees; (2) Define "relatives" broadly to include adult children, siblings, and in-laws, as the bipartisan Presidential Ethics Reform Act of 2024 did—under which Trump would have had to report his sons' stake in the Kazakhstan project within 30 days of learning of it; and (3) Extend these rules to Cabinet secretaries and agency heads and enforce them with civil and criminal penalties—not just disclosure requirements. Notably, neither existing proposal alone would have prevented this deal: the Presidential Conflicts of Interest Accountability Act covers only spouses and dependent children—leaving out Trump's sons, who are adults—and neither reaches Lutnick, since both apply solely to the president and vice president. As Commerce Secretary, Lutnick is bound by § 208—but the law ignores his sons' transactions.
Pass the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which would shield Inspectors General (IGs)—the independent watchdogs who investigate waste, fraud, and abuse within federal agencies—from removal without documented cause and notice to Congress. Trump fired 17 IGs in his first week back in office, including the Commerce Department's, and later the Export-Import Bank IG—one of the agencies that pledged the $1.6 billion for the Kazakhstan project—dismantling the very offices that could audit whether Lutnick and agency officials complied with § 208.
Congress should require that any federal funding above a set threshold—such as $100 million—undergo review by the Office of Government Ethics or an inspector general, certifying that no senior official involved in the decision, nor any member of their family, holds a financial interest in the recipient.
Demand answers to oversight requests: Democrats have formally asked four Cabinet secretaries to explain how the administration's critical-mineral investments are structured, noting that no safeguards have been publicly disclosed to prevent government ownership stakes from influencing agency decisions. Senators Warren, Van Hollen, and Wyden separately pressed Lutnick over his family's conflicts of interest in a parallel rare earths deal, writing that it follows "a long string of actions" that have directly enriched his family.
Legislation: H.R.7207 - Presidential Conflicts of Interest Accountability Act | H.R. 8489 - Presidential Ethics Reform Act | S.2828 - Protecting Our Democracy Act
