Key Takeaways
- • 1789 Capital, the venture firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, is weighing legal action against ABC News after the network deleted and substantially revised a report that wrongly portrayed the firm's stake in defense contractor Anduril Industries.
- • ABC's original report described a $2.5 billion investment by 1789 Capital; that figure represented Anduril's broader fundraising round, while 1789 Capital's own investment was approximately $50 million, according to the primary source.
- • ABC News republished a revised article acknowledging errors involving investments, government contracts and chronology, and clarified that Trump Jr. does not sit on the firm's investment committee, but did not specify the errors or apologize.
- • 1789 Capital says its attorneys have been in contact with ABC News and Disney, and it calls the report false; the firm has not yet filed suit.
- • Sen. Bernie Moreno has called on the FCC to investigate how the erroneous report was published.
Summary
Venture capital firm 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. serves as a partner, is considering legal action against ABC News over a report the network deleted and later revised. According to Fox News Digital, a 1789 Capital spokesperson, Alexa Henning, said the firm's attorneys are "completely plugged into this" and that no options are off the table. She said the firm's lawyers have been in touch with ABC News and Disney and that the firm will continue monitoring coverage before deciding on a lawsuit.
The disputed original report, headlined "Trump sons' investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election," claimed that 1789 Capital acquired a major stake in defense contractor Anduril Industries through a $2.5 billion investment. According to the article, that figure reflected Anduril's broader fundraising round, while 1789 Capital's investment was approximately $50 million. The original piece remains accessible through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
ABC News later republished a substantially revised article, now headlined "New shipyard announced amid earlier Democratic concerns about potential conflicts of interest," with the byline replaced by "ABC News." The updated version acknowledges errors involving investments, government contracts and the chronology of events, and clarifies that Trump Jr. does not serve on the firm's investment decision-making committee. An editor's note refers to "errors" but does not describe them or apologize to 1789 Capital, which Henning said is not sufficient.
Henning said no one from ABC News requested comment from 1789 Capital before the original story was published, and that an ABC journalist defended the report before it was removed. She disputed claims by media-industry sources that the story was simply "published prematurely," and said the editor stood by the piece. She characterized the report as resulting from "laziness" and a desire for a "good hit on the Trump family," and said the story was "just false on the facts." The false version spread widely on social media, including shares by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, called on the FCC to investigate how the report came to be published. ABC News did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The dispute comes amid the network's earlier history with the Trump family; Henning cited ABC's $16 million settlement in 2024 of a defamation suit brought by Trump, which followed anchor George Stephanopoulos's false statement that Trump had been found liable for "rape."
The disputed original report, headlined "Trump sons' investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election," claimed that 1789 Capital acquired a major stake in defense contractor Anduril Industries through a $2.5 billion investment. According to the article, that figure reflected Anduril's broader fundraising round, while 1789 Capital's investment was approximately $50 million. The original piece remains accessible through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
ABC News later republished a substantially revised article, now headlined "New shipyard announced amid earlier Democratic concerns about potential conflicts of interest," with the byline replaced by "ABC News." The updated version acknowledges errors involving investments, government contracts and the chronology of events, and clarifies that Trump Jr. does not serve on the firm's investment decision-making committee. An editor's note refers to "errors" but does not describe them or apologize to 1789 Capital, which Henning said is not sufficient.
Henning said no one from ABC News requested comment from 1789 Capital before the original story was published, and that an ABC journalist defended the report before it was removed. She disputed claims by media-industry sources that the story was simply "published prematurely," and said the editor stood by the piece. She characterized the report as resulting from "laziness" and a desire for a "good hit on the Trump family," and said the story was "just false on the facts." The false version spread widely on social media, including shares by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, called on the FCC to investigate how the report came to be published. ABC News did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The dispute comes amid the network's earlier history with the Trump family; Henning cited ABC's $16 million settlement in 2024 of a defamation suit brought by Trump, which followed anchor George Stephanopoulos's false statement that Trump had been found liable for "rape."
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