1789 Capital

The idea for 1789 Capital began at a meeting of the conservative donor group Rockbridge Network, which was co-founded by Chris Buskirk and JD Vance, who later became Vice President. The firm is controlled by Buskirk and Trump donor Omeed Malik, and right-wing donor Rebekah Mercer is also a co-founder. Malik and Buskirk are both close friends of Donald Trump Jr., and Malik had already been investing alongside Trump Jr. for several years in companies including the right-leaning tech platform Rumble.⁠[1][2][2]

The investment adviser entity 1789 Capital Management, LLC is a limited liability company organized in Delaware. Since January 2023, Omeed Malik has served as President and Secretary and Christopher Buskirk as Vice President, with the controlling member 1789 Capital Holdings, LLC holding 75% or more of the interests.⁠[3][3][3][3][3][3]

In October 2023, Omeed Malik, through the newly launched 1789 Capital, invested $15 million in seed capital in Last Country, the media company founded by Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel. Malik, who had previously founded the investment bank Farvahar Partners, launched 1789 as an “anti-woke” firm, with $150 million to invest at the time.⁠[4][4][4]

In November 2024, within days of Donald Trump winning the presidency for a second time, his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., announced that he was joining 1789 Capital as a partner. At the time, the firm was a roughly $150 million venture capital firm based in Palm Beach, Florida, focused on investing in conservative companies. Trump Jr. was expected to help with investments in companies in the “parallel economy” that espouse a conservative world view and to help raise capital; as a result, he would not go into the Trump administration, but would continue to host his podcast and campaign for Republican candidates.⁠[2][1][1][1][1][1]

After Trump Jr. joined, the firm attracted a flood of investors and billions of dollars in new capital. Trump Jr. does not sit on the firm’s investment committee and does not make direct investment decisions, but shares in the profit as a partner.⁠[5][5]

On August 26, 2025, the prediction market platform PolymarketPolymarketPolymarket is a prediction market platform founded by Shayne Coplan in 2020, on which users buy and sell shares in the outcomes of political, sports, financial, cultural, and other events, with trading prices regarded as the market’s estimate of the probability that an event will occur. It rose to prominence during the 2024 US election, returned to the US market in 2025 by acquiring a licensed exchange and clearinghouse, and received a major investment from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, while facing gambling-regulation and insider-trading scrutiny in US states and several countries.Open the full entry announced a strategic investment from 1789 Capital, with Donald Trump Jr. joining Polymarket’s advisory board at the same time; the terms of the investment were not disclosed.⁠[6][6]

In September 2025, the quantum computing company PsiQuantum announced an investment from 1789 as part of a $1 billion funding round that included other investors; PsiQuantum had previously won government contracts under both the Biden and Trump administrations. A PsiQuantum spokesman said 1789 was one of many minority investors and had no involvement in the company’s operations.⁠[2][2]

In May 2026, Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Department of Defense Inspector General Platte B. Moring III demanding an investigation into whether corporations are using the Trump family as a conduit into the Pentagon to turn insider access into defense contracts.⁠[7]

On July 13, 2026, The Washington Post published an analysis of the defense technology companies in which Trump’s two sons have invested through 1789 Capital and American Ventures, and of those companies’ government business. The analysis found that 1789 had invested in 11 of the 15 defense, robotics, and AI companies with Pentagon business, including SpaceX, Anduril, Hadrian, which builds smart factories for aerospace and defense and recently received a $900 million commitment from the Navy, and the rare earth magnet company Vulcan Elements, which was awarded a $620 million Pentagon loan in late 2025.⁠[2][2][2][2][2]

1789’s partners have described its investment philosophy as “patriotic capitalism” adhering to “America First” principles, such as rebuilding the US industrial base and supporting companies that undermine China’s edge in key supply chains. A person familiar with the firm said that after Trump Jr. joined, the firm’s capital under management reached roughly $3 billion, enabling it to write big checks to companies on the verge of going public; the person said that the firm’s perspective now effectively being national policy does not mean it is corruption.⁠[2][2][2][2]

Chandler Costello, a spokesman for 1789 Capital, said no one at 1789 has ever served in government and there are “zero conflicts”; Andy Surabian, a spokesman for Trump Jr., said Trump Jr. does not interface with the federal government as part of his role with any company he invests in or advises. Pentagon spokesperson Joel Valdez said no company receives preferential treatment and that outside affiliations, investors, or political connections play no role in the department’s funding decisions; White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said there are no conflicts of interest.⁠[2][2][2][2][2]

On August 5, 2026, Robert Garcia and Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, and Tammy Duckworth jointly wrote to the Department of Defense Inspector General, asking for an investigation of $3.2 billion in government awards flowing to over a dozen companies with ties to Trump’s sons. The letter said that 1789 Capital and American Ventures, which are affiliated with Trump Jr. and Eric TrumpEric TrumpEric Trump is an American businessman and the second son of US President Donald Trump; he has long served as an executive at the family business, the Trump Organization, and ran it with his older brother while his father was president. Since 2024 he has been one of the main public faces of the Trump family’s crypto businesses, co-founding World Liberty Financial and the Bitcoin mining company American Bitcoin.Open the full entry, had invested in at least 15 companies in the defense sector, and that after the two firms became involved, these companies received $3.2 billion in federal awards and an additional $3.1 billion in future contract options, stating that “the potential for corruption is obvious.” 1789 Capital declined to comment.⁠[7][7][7][7][5]

On August 11, 2026, 1789 Capital Management filed an amended Form ADV with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, reporting regulatory assets under management of approximately $2.725 billion (of which approximately $1.711 billion was discretionary) across 26 accounts, 13 employees, and a principal office in Palm Beach, Florida.⁠[3][3][3][3][3]

On October 6, 2026, Donald Trump announced an expansion of submarine production capacity in Baltimore County, Maryland: Anduril IndustriesAnduril IndustriesAnduril Industries is a defense technology company headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, United States, co-founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey and several former Palantir and Oculus employees. It develops autonomous drones, unmanned undersea vehicles, border surveillance towers, counter-drone systems, and the Lattice command-and-control software, and builds its own large-scale weapons manufacturing facilities. As of May 2026, the company was valued at $61 billion.Open the full entry said it would invest $3.7 billion to build a “software-defined shipyard” named Arsenal-2 at Tradepoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point, and the US Navy also awarded Anduril a contract worth up to $2.9 billion, for a total of $6.6 billion.⁠[8][8][8][8]

On October 7, ABC News published an analysis finding that defense companies backed by Trump’s two sons, including Anduril, had obtained more than $6 billion in active or promised government contracts since receiving their investments. The analysis said that Trump Jr. is one of six partners of 1789 Capital, that 1789 had taken a “major stake” in Anduril in its $2.5 billion funding in June 2025, and that Anduril had since received 135 federal contracts worth around $1.8 billion; the analysis also cited the drone manufacturer Powerus, and Hadrian, which received a $39.2 million Army agreement and a $900 million Navy contract after 1789’s investment.⁠[9][9][9][10][10]

A spokesperson for the Trump brothers responded that their investment decisions are based solely on independent business judgment and personal convictions, that they do not seek to influence, direct, or participate in any government decision, procurement, or award, and that portraying their ordinary investments as improper is a deliberate distortion of the facts; a Defense Department official said no company receives preferential treatment. 1789 Capital spokesperson Alexa Henning said 1789 does not hold a “major stake” in Anduril and that it is also false to say Vulcan, Firehawk, and PsiQuantum are backed by Trump Jr. and Eric Trump; she said the analysis conflated the total amounts of funding rounds with 1789’s own investments, and noted that many of these companies had received government contracts under both the Biden and Trump administrations.⁠[9][9][9][9][9][9]

ABC News deleted the article less than a day after publication, and as of October 8 had not issued a public correction or explained the deletion. California Governor Gavin Newsom had shared the article; Donald Trump Jr. responded that ABC deleted it because it was false.⁠[9][9][9][9]

1789 Capital: Official website: https://1789capital.vc/ (opens in a new window).⁠[11]

X: Public account: https://x.com/1789Capital (opens in a new window)⁠[11][3]