By Bernard Condon
NEW YORK (AP) — Public documents filed by the company that just hired President Donald Trump’s two oldest sons as advisors included a sentence earlier Monday saying they wanted to benefit from federal grants and other incentives that his father happened to guide.
However, when the Associated Press asked Trump’s family business about the apparent conflict of interest, the documents were revised and lines were removed.
Eric and Donald Trump Jr. have acquired millions of dollars worth of “founders stocks” at New America Aquis 1 Corporation, a company that doesn’t want to operate and fill that void by purchasing American companies that can play a meaningful role in revitalizing domestic manufacturing, according to filings. The president has prepared his trade policy against boosting US manufacturing
The original version of securities filing said that target companies should be “well located” to exploit federal or state government incentives. That reference was removed from the revised version of the filing.
The Trump organization did not answer questions about whether New America is still planning to benefit from government programs or why the line was cut. However, outside law firm Paul Weiss sent an email saying the document had sent an email to the AP saying it was a “mistake” created by “slivener,” an old term for legal paper transcripts.
Government ethics expert Kathleen Clark said excuses were too late as Trump had already tilted his hands.
“They just deleted the language. They’re not committed to doing what they said today that they were planning on doing what they were trying to do,” said a law professor at the University of Washington and a Trump critic. “This is an attempt to exploit public office for private interest.”
New America is what is known as a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC. This is a stock trading company that exists solely to use the funds to acquire another company and acquire a target.
New America plans to raise money by selling shares at $10 per share on the New York Stock Exchange. This will give Trump’s two sons a total of $5 million in paper wealth on the first day of the deal. The company hopes to sell enough shares to raise $300 million, and plans to use purchases from still unknown manufacturers.
A press release issued by New America, saying it focuses on “American values and priorities.” It does not mention the purpose of obtaining government incentives.
The filings with potential new investors in New America have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He said, among other things, he could benefit from a “public policy tail, or priority procurement program” by benefiting from a federal or state “grants, tax credits, government contracts, or priority procurement programs.”
Original issue: August 4, 2025, 7:40pm EDT
