ABC News Revises Deleted Trump Sons Investment Report

ABC News republished a revised version of a deleted report examining Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump's business ties to defense companies after criticism over inaccurate descriptions of investments, contracts and timelines. The updated article included corrections and an editor's note.

The original report was removed less than a day after publication, according to Fox News Digital and Yahoo News, and later returned with a new headline and an ABC News byline. The editor's note said the earlier version contained errors involving company investments, government contracts and event chronologies.

The revision followed criticism from Alexa Henning, spokesperson for 1789 Capital, the venture firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner. The company disputed the earlier description of its investment relationship with Anduril.

"1789 Capital does not have a 'major stake' in Anduril," Henning wrote in response to criticism of the report.

Henning also challenged the article's interpretation of fundraising figures and investments by the firm.

"Here's a small lesson, that I also explained to ABC, the 'reporter' who is a complete idiot conflated raising funds with investment by 1789. Those are two separate actions," Henning wrote.

The revised ABC report clarified that the previously cited $2.5 billion figure represented total funding raised by Anduril, not an investment made solely by 1789 Capital. ABC stated that 1789 Capital had previously invested $50 million in Anduril, which it valued at about $60 billion.

According to ABC's analysis of government contract records, defense companies connected to investments from Donald Trump Jr. or Eric Trump received more than $6 billion in active or promised government contracts. The analysis included Anduril, which had 135 federal contracts and about $1.8 billion paid from those agreements after the investment period.

The Pentagon rejected claims that political connections influenced procurement decisions.

"No company receives preferential treatment. The War Department always looks for solutions to benefit the warfighter, not any pre-selected entity. Outside affiliations, investors, or political connections play absolutely no role in the Department's funding decisions," a Pentagon official said.

A spokesperson for Trump Jr. and Eric Trump also defended their business activities, saying their investment decisions were independent and unrelated to government actions.

"Don and Eric are experienced business leaders who have built and invested in businesses across a wide range of industries for decades, long before their father first ran for public office. Their investment decisions are based solely on their independent business judgment and personal convictions and they do not seek to influence, direct, or participate in any government decision, procurement, award, regulatory action, or other governmental process. Attempts to portray their ordinary investment activities as improper are a deliberate distortion of the facts," the spokesperson said.

Donald Trump Jr. responded after the original article was removed and criticized ABC News on X.

"ABC deleted this article in less than 24 hours because it’s false. Sounds about as long as your presidential campaign would last," Trump Jr. wrote.

Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, criticized ABC News for removing the article without an immediate public correction.

"This is bad. @ABC must take responsibility for their failed journalism. Basic journalistic ethics requires it," Ackman wrote.

"A quiet unexplained withdrawal of a false article does not constitute a proper error correction," Ackman wrote.