Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan accused Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump of profiting from their father’s war with Iran, arguing an old photo Trump Jr. posted of kneeling Democratic lawmakers was a deliberate distraction from the Trump family’s business dealings.
“You and your brother have made $6.3 BILLION off your father’s crooked war, which has KILLED American troops and sent prices SKYROCKETING here at home,” Thanedar wrote on X, addressing Trump Jr. directly. “But yes, let’s dwell on photo of people kneeling more than 6 years ago to distract from all that.”
Thanedar was responding to a post from Trump Jr. calling Democratic lawmakers “useful idiots for the Chinese Communist Party” alongside a photograph from June 2020, when congressional Democrats, including then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi wearing a kente cloth stole, knelt for roughly eight minutes and 46 seconds in the Capitol to mark the length of time a Minneapolis police officer knelt on George Floyd’s neck before his death.
Thanedar’s $6.3 billion figure traces to a Washington Post investigation published July 13, which found that investment funds linked to Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have backed more than a dozen defense-sector companies that have collectively secured at least $3.2 billion in direct Pentagon business since the brothers became involved, along with roughly $3.1 billion in potential future contract options, some through exclusive bidding arrangements covering close to $200 billion in additional prospective work.
The Post’s analysis found the brothers’ investments run primarily through two firms, 1789 Capital, where Trump Jr. is listed as a partner, and American Ventures, a branch of Dominari Holdings where Eric Trump is heavily involved. Roughly 97 percent of the identified government business traces to two already-established contractors, SpaceX and Anduril, and 10 of the 15 companies examined were already doing business with the government before the Trump brothers’ involvement, with much of the underlying military spending buildup having begun under the Biden administration before accelerating further under the current one.
The Post’s figures represent the companies’ total government business rather than personal payouts to Trump Jr. or Eric Trump, and there is no indication either brother had advance knowledge of specific contract decisions. A Trump Organization spokesperson pushed back on the ethics concerns raised by the investigation, telling the Post that “Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are passive, minority investors with absolutely no involvement in the day-to-day operations, strategic decisions, management, or any activities of these companies.”
Thanedar, who represents Michigan’s 13th Congressional District covering much of Detroit, serves as Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, according to his official press kit.
The exchange came amid broader scrutiny of the Iran war’s toll. The Pentagon’s confirmed death count for U.S. service members in the war stands at 18 as of late July, following a dispute over the department’s public casualty figures earlier in the month. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told Congress the war has cost approximately $37.5 billion to date, with independent estimates from groups including the Center for International Policy putting the total considerably higher.
Gas prices have climbed since fighting resumed following the collapse of an April ceasefire, with the Center for American Progress estimating the price increases have added tens of billions of dollars in additional costs for American consumers, translating to hundreds of dollars per household in some estimates.
Trump Jr.’s “useful idiots” post did not directly reference the Iran war or the defense-investment reporting, focusing instead on the 2020 kneeling photograph as an attack on Democrats generally.
Other Democrats have raised similar concerns about the Trump family’s financial ties to the war and broader government contracting. Rep. Yassamin Ansari has said she would seek subpoenas of Trump family members “if the evidence leads” there, specifically citing Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital investments and government contracts as an example of what she called “unprecedented levels of corruption.”
Neither Trump Jr. nor Eric Trump has issued a further public response to Thanedar’s statement.