Trump sons stand to profit from US-Kazakhstan mining deal: US media

A New York Times investigation says that US President Donald Trump's family and the family of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stand to benefit financially from a major critical minerals agreement between the United States and Kazakhstan that was negotiated with direct involvement from senior administration officials.

According to the investigation, the Trump administration secured an agreement granting US-backed company Kaz Resources access to one of the world's largest untapped tungsten deposits in Kazakhstan.

The project has also received preliminary expressions of interest for up to $1.6 billion in potential financing from US government agencies, although the funding remains subject to further approvals.

The report says President Trump personally joined a phone call with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during negotiations alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to help finalize the agreement.

The New York Times reported that, within weeks of those negotiations, investors linked to Dominari Securities, a financial firm partly owned by Trump's sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, acquired a stake in a corporate entity connected to the Kazakhstan mining project.

The investigation also found that Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment bank formerly headed by Lutnick and now controlled by his sons Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, helped raise $210 million for one of the project's investment partners, potentially generating millions of dollars in fees.

According to the Times, the Kazakhstan project is not an isolated case.

The newspaper identified 14 mining companies with financial ties to either the Trump family or Cantor Fitzgerald that are simultaneously pursuing federal permits or financial assistance from the Trump administration.

The total value of government financing already approved or under consideration for those companies exceeds $8.9 billion, the report said.

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The White House rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing.

"The only special interest guiding the Trump administration's decision-making is the best interest of the American people," White House spokesman Kush Desai told the newspaper, adding that securing critical mineral supply chains remains a national security priority.

Democrats have called for greater scrutiny of the arrangements.

Representative Maxine Dexter said Congress should ensure taxpayer funds are being used in the public interest and not to benefit families connected to administration officials.

The investigation says the Kazakhstan deal follows other instances in which members of the Trump family benefited from sectors receiving favorable government policies during Trump's second administration.

The newspaper previously reported that Trump's sons became involved in multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency ventures while the administration pursued policies viewed as favorable to the digital asset industry.

Moreover, Donald Trump Jr. has invested in Vulcan Elements, a mining startup that later secured a nearly $700 million federal financing agreement to expand production in North Carolina.

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