An investigative report by Paul Sonne and Eric Lipton, published June 28, 2026 in The New York Times, reveals how a U.S.-Kazakhstan government agreement to secure tungsten mining rights created financial windfalls for the sons of both President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — continuing a pattern of self-enrichment that critics say has few precedents in American history.

The Kazakhstan Tungsten Deal

In September 2025, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the St. Regis Hotel in New York. President Trump joined by phone and helped secure an agreement giving a little-known American company access to one of the world’s largest untapped tungsten reserves, located near the village of Unrek in Kazakhstan (population 407).

Tungsten — known as the “war metal” for its exceptional hardness, density, and high melting point — is critical to the production of missile warheads, fighter jets, computer chips, and other strategic goods. China dominates the global tungsten trade, and after Beijing began restricting exports, benchmark prices outside China surged sixfold in a single year.

The American company at the center of the deal, now called Kaz Resources, is led by executive chairman Pini Althaus, an Australia-born rabbi who moved to the United States and pivoted to critical minerals. Althaus has stated that discussions with the U.S. government began under the Biden administration and did not benefit from political favors.

Under the final deal terms signed November 6, 2025, Althaus’s firm owns 70 percent of the mining venture; Kazakhstan’s state mining company owns the remaining 30 percent. The project is estimated to require approximately $650 million initially and $1.1 billion over its lifetime, with the tungsten potentially worth as much as $80 billion. In exchange, the United States expects access to an estimated 12,000 metric tons of tungsten per year.

The Trump administration approved preliminary applications for as much as $1.6 billion in federal financing for Kaz Resources — $900 million from the Export-Import Bank and up to $700 million from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Lutnick sits on the boards of both agencies.

The Trump Sons’ Financial Interest

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump hold financial stakes in the deal through Dominari Securities, a small financial services firm housed at Trump Tower in New York. After Donald Trump returned to the White House, Dominari hired the two sons as paid advisers, giving them stock now worth approximately $7 million, representing roughly 10 percent of total company shares.

Dominari partnered with British investor Paul E. Mann and his nuclear energy company ASP Isotopes. Using an ASP subsidiary, the group acquired control of a Nasdaq-listed road construction firm called Skyline Builders — chosen specifically for its stock exchange listing. The Trump sons joined through a Special Purpose Vehicle that took a stake in Skyline, as well as through a direct investment in the ASP subsidiary.

On October 31, 2025 — six days before the final Kazakhstan deal was signed — Skyline (now controlled by ASP) took a 20 percent stake in Althaus’s Kazakhstan-focused corporate entity for $20 million. Skyline later agreed to make approximately $50 million total available for the project. A reverse merger announced in April 2026 will replace Skyline Builders on Nasdaq with Kaz Resources, taking the mining operation public and allowing early investors to profit by trading stock before any tungsten is extracted.

Eric Trump stated he “has always been a passive investor with absolutely no management role.” Donald Trump Jr. similarly said he was not involved in the specifics of the deal. Paul E. Mann confirmed the Trump sons have a financial interest but said he had not spoken with them or the Trump family about the deal.

Kaz Resources executive chairman Pini Althaus — while maintaining that his firm did not benefit from political favors — acknowledged the appearance problem to The New York Times, saying: “I see how the optics might be disturbing to some people.”

The Lutnick Sons’ Financial Interest

Cantor Fitzgerald — the investment firm historically controlled by Howard Lutnick’s family and now overseen by his sons Brandon Lutnick and Kyle Lutnick — assisted one of the lead investors working with Dominari on the Kazakhstan deal. In October 2025, Cantor Fitzgerald helped raise $210 million for ASP Isotopes, concurrent with ASP’s subsidiary preparing to invest in a deal that Lutnick was simultaneously negotiating as commerce secretary. Such capital-raise rounds typically net Cantor millions of dollars in fees.

Lutnick had also personally sent a letter to President Tokayev urging Kazakhstan to award the mining contract to Althaus’s firm (then known as Cove Kaz), stating that the Trump administration “fully supports” the company.

Cantor Fitzgerald spokesperson Stan Neve stated: “Cantor is a natural partner for companies raising capital to meet the growing demand for critical minerals,” and that executives were not involved in discussions related to government funding on behalf of mining clients. The Commerce Department stated that neither Lutnick nor anyone at the department had “interacted with or had any discussions whatsoever with Cantor Fitzgerald regarding the rare earth minerals industry,” and noted that Lutnick had sold his ownership stake in Cantor.

Broader Pattern: 14 Companies, $8.9 Billion

The Times found that one or both families have financial ties to at least 14 companies actively working with the federal government on critical mining deals. All 14 have either directly benefited from offers of financial assistance from the Trump administration or have pending permit applications before the Commerce Department. The total federal funding provided or under consideration for these companies exceeds $8.9 billion.

Key examples include:

• USA Rare Earth: Another company founded by Pini Althaus, in which he remains a shareholder. The Trump administration committed up to $1.6 billion in financial support this month; the Commerce Department received 16 million shares of company stock. Cantor Fitzgerald earned millions in fees helping USA Rare Earth raise $1.5 billion in a series of deals. Democrats in Congress called for an investigation into the proposed Commerce Department equity stake.
• Perpetua Resources: Approved for a $2.9 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank for a central Idaho gold and antimony project; Cantor Fitzgerald served as underwriter.
• Vulcan Elements: A small start-up mining company in which Donald Trump Jr. is a partner in an investing firm that took a stake. The company subsequently signed a nearly $700 million deal with the federal government to help finance expansion of its North Carolina production.

Since Trump returned to office, the federal government has approved 60 critical minerals projects worldwide backed by $18.6 billion in federal loans, loan guarantees, or other financing — the largest amount in U.S. history, according to BMO Capital Markets.

Political Reaction and Government Response

Representative Maxine Dexter (D-Oregon), the top Democrat on the House panel investigating mining industry wrongdoing, called the arrangements “a warning sign” and stated: “Congress needs to make sure that taxpayer dollars are being used in the public’s interest and not to benefit family members or those closely tied with the Trump administration.”

Democrats in Congress also wrote to Lutnick describing the USA Rare Earth deal as “the latest example of how official Commerce Department business has intersected with Cantor Fitzgerald’s financial interests during your tenure.”

White House spokesman Kush Desai rejected any suggestion of improper mixing of government actions with family business, stating: “The only special interest guiding the Trump administration’s decision-making is the best interest of the American people.”

Even some Trump administration officials directly involved in the effort — speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter — told The Times they were disappointed by the links between the Lutnick and Trump families and the projects the government proposed to finance.

Project Status

As of publication, none of the $1.6 billion in U.S. government financial support for the Kazakh mining project has been disbursed, as it remains subject to additional approvals and a final feasibility study. Althaus has stated he hopes production will begin by 2030, though there is pressure to accelerate the timeline. Cantor Fitzgerald and Dominari Securities have, however, already earned fees for their roles in the series of transactions.

Additional Reporting and Reactions

The New York Times investigation was quickly amplified and extended by additional outlets, ethics commentators, and market observers in the days that followed.

Ethics and Watchdog Reaction

• Robert Reich, former U.S. Labor Secretary, characterized the arrangement as unprecedented enrichment through public office, stating: “The corruption is breathtaking.”
• Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee added the Kazakhstan deal to a broader tally they are keeping of Trump-family financial gains from official actions, part of what the committee minority has begun calling a “Trump Family Wealth Tracker” of ventures — spanning crypto, real estate licensing, and now critical minerals — from which the family has profited during Trump’s second term.
• The New Republic framed the deal as one of “two major Trump corruption plots revealed in just 24 hours,” noting the White House’s blanket denial that “no conflicts of interest” exist despite the president’s adult children routinely profiting from ventures directly touching federal contracts and financing.

Anonymous Administration Discomfort

Several outlets — including The Daily Beast — highlighted that unnamed Trump administration officials who worked on the Kazakhstan deal privately told The Times they were “disappointed by the involvement of the Trump family — as well as the family of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — in projects the government itself is helping to finance.” No official has yet gone on the record with that critique, but the on-background pushback from within the administration itself is unusual for a story about the president’s business interests.

Market and Investor Reaction

Coverage in the financial press (Yahoo Finance, Stocktwits) put a group of critical-minerals equities in focus following the report — including tickers linked to companies named in the Times investigation and adjacent ventures (e.g., ASPI for ASP Isotopes, USAR for USA Rare Earth, alongside other critical-minerals names such as CRML and UUUU). Analysts flagged the story as a governance and disclosure risk for the sector, particularly for companies whose capital raises were led or underwritten by Cantor Fitzgerald, and for firms with pending federal permit applications or DFC/Ex-Im financing letters.

International Coverage

• Asia Times (“Trump sons set to profit from tax-funded Kazakh tungsten mine deal,” July 2026) tied the tungsten deal to a broader pattern of family enrichment during Trump’s second term.
• The Caspian Post, reporting from the Central Asian perspective, framed the transaction as a “major commercial agreement” for Kazakhstan while also acknowledging the U.S. political controversy — a notably milder framing than the U.S. domestic coverage.
• The Print (India) and other international outlets picked up the story primarily through the NYT‘s reporting, spreading the conflict-of-interest framing into markets watching U.S.–Kazakhstan critical-minerals policy.

Historical Comparison: Uranium One

Commentator Joe Conason, writing in The National Memo (“Echoes Of ‘Uranium One’ In Trump’s Kazakh Super-Grift — Except This Scandal Is Real”), drew a pointed comparison to the 2015 Uranium One story that dogged Hillary Clinton. Conason’s argument:

• The Uranium One narrative was, in his framing, a manufactured attack line that misrepresented the Secretary of State’s actual role in a routine CFIUS approval.
• The Kazakhstan tungsten deal, by contrast, involves a president who personally negotiated the underlying government-to-government agreement — including a direct phone call to President Tokayev during the St. Regis meeting — while his adult sons simultaneously acquired an equity stake in the private entity positioned to benefit from that agreement.

The comparison has since been picked up by other commentators to argue that the Kazakhstan deal represents a more direct and documented form of the very conduct that Uranium One critics accused Clinton of — this time with public paperwork, a presidential phone call, and disclosed family equity stakes in the same transaction.

Sources

• Paul Sonne and Eric Lipton, “Trump Cut a Billion-Dollar Mining Deal. His Sons Stand to Profit,” The New York Times, June 28, 2026 (primary reporting).
• Asia Times, “Trump sons set to profit from tax-funded Kazakh tungsten mine deal,” July 2026.
• The New Republic, “Two Major Trump Corruption Plots Revealed in Just 24 Hours.”
• The Daily Beast, “Trump Goons Secretly Trash His Sons’ Latest Grift.”
• Mediaite, “NY Times Bombshell Details How Trump’s Sons Stand to Gain From $1.6B Kazakhstan Mining Deal.”
• The National Memo (Joe Conason), “Echoes Of ‘Uranium One’ In Trump’s Kazakh Super-Grift (Except This Scandal Is Real).”
• The Caspian Post, “Trump’s Sons Invest in Kazakhstan’s Strategic Tungsten Mining Project.”
• The Print (India), “NYT reports conflict of interest in Trump’s critical mineral deal with Kazakhstan for tungsten.”
• Yahoo Finance / Stocktwits, “CRML, UUUU, ASPI, USAR In Focus: Report Questions Trump, Lutnick Family Ties To Government-Backed Critical Metal Projects.”