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Trump and Lutnick sons held Kaz Resources stake as their fathers brokered a $1.6B U.S.-backed Kazakhstan tungsten deal

On November 6, 2025, the U.S. government announced a deal with Kazakhstan granting a U.S.-backed company, Kaz Resources, access to one of the world's largest undeveloped tungsten resources, supported by up to $1.6 billion in financing from the Export-Import Bank and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Six days before the announcement, investors linked to Dominari Securities — a firm partly owned by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and based at Trump Tower — had acquired a 20 percent stake in the entity connected to the Kazakhstan project; Cantor Fitzgerald, run by Howard Lutnick's sons, separately raised $210 million for a related vehicle. A June 2026 New York Times investigation found that at least 14 companies affiliated with the Trump or Lutnick families were actively working with the federal government on critical-minerals deals worth more than $8.9 billion in federal support.

Jurisdiction
federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On November 6, 2025, the United States government announced a deal with Kazakhstan granting Kaz Resources — an American company formed from a merger of Skyline Builders and Cove Kaz Capital Group — access to two tungsten deposits in the Karaganda region, described as among the largest undeveloped tungsten resources in the world. The U.S. Export-Import Bank and the International Development Finance Corporation each expressed intent to provide up to $900 million and $700 million respectively, totaling up to $1.6 billion in federal financing. President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick personally participated in negotiations with Kazakhstan to secure the mining rights for a U.S.-backed company.

Six days before the November 6 announcement, filings dated October 31, 2025 show that Dominari Securities — a financial firm headquartered at Trump Tower and partly owned by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — had agreed to pay $20 million for a 20 percent stake in an entity connected to the Kazakhstan project. Cantor Fitzgerald, operated by Howard Lutnick's sons Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, separately raised approximately $210 million for a related vehicle around the same time. Neither family's financial interest in the deal was publicly disclosed by the government during the negotiations or at the time of the announcement.

A New York Times investigation published June 28, 2026 found that the Kazakhstan tungsten arrangement was not an isolated case: at least 14 companies with financial ties to either the Trump family, the Lutnick family, or both were actively working with the federal government on critical-minerals deals, with those projects collectively receiving or being considered for more than $8.9 billion in federal support. Senator Jon Ossoff released a timeline in June 2026 showing that Kazakhstan first contacted Trump about tungsten mining rights, and the Trump sons' investment followed within six days — before the deal was publicly announced.

Why we recorded this

Public office is not a business opportunity. Federal law and constitutional tradition prohibit officials from using government power to benefit their own families. Here, the President and his Commerce Secretary personally negotiated a government-backed deal worth $1.6 billion while their sons held undisclosed stakes in the American company positioned to receive that funding — a direct conversion of official authority into private financial gain.

Sources

  1. Trump's Sons Stand To Profit From The Critical Minerals Arms Race — Mother Jones secondary accessed June 29, 2026
  2. Trump's sons to take stake in Kazakh miner that won $1.6bn US backing — Financial Times primary accessed June 29, 2026
  3. Trump Cut a Billion-Dollar Mining Deal. His Sons Stand to Profit. — New York Times investigative accessed June 29, 2026
  4. Ossoff says Trump's sons got stake in $1.6 billion taxpayer-backed Kazakhstan tungsten deal days before awarded contract — Yahoo Finance secondary accessed June 29, 2026

See also