White House adviser Peter Navarro asked the Pentagon to approve a loan to a rare-earth magnet company in which Donald Trump Jr. holds a stake, according to a ProPublica investigation published Wednesday, May 28.
Reporter Robert Faturechi broke the story for ProPublica. The request put Navarro – a sitting White House official – in the position of directing federal defense dollars toward a private company tied to the president’s oldest son.
The investigation
Rare-earth magnets are a defense-critical material; the Pentagon has long sought to reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese suppliers. That strategic backdrop makes the loan request notable, but ProPublica’s reporting centers on the conflict-of-interest question: whether a White House adviser should be steering Pentagon funds toward a business in which a presidential family member has a financial interest.
Navarro’s role in the request isn’t a minor clerical matter. He is among the most senior economic voices in the current White House, and the Pentagon’s loan programs – designed to shore up domestic supply chains – carry real money. ProPublica didn’t specify the dollar amount sought in its lede, and the full terms of the requested loan weren’t immediately clear from the available reporting.
Trump Jr.’s exact stake in the company, and whether the Pentagon ultimately approved or rejected the request, had not been reported in the available details as of Wednesday evening.
Reporting by NPR, citing a ProPublica investigation by Robert Faturechi. Read the original report.
