ABC News Quietly Deleted Story About Trump Sons’ Anduril Investment After Pushback

Jimmy ParkerOctober 10, 20260

ABC’s Big Claim About Anduril

ABC News published a story on October 7 claiming that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump’s conservative venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, had taken a major stake in defense technology company Anduril. The report tied that alleged investment to more than $6 billion in active or promised Pentagon contracts, including a new shipyard deal. The story suggested the contracts reflected pay-to-play favoritism under the Trump administration. It also noted that Donald Trump Jr. is one of six partners at 1789 Capital. That claim spread quickly, giving political critics a ready-made narrative about the Trump family and government contracts.

The Numbers Were Not What ABC Reported

Anduril founder Palmer Luckey said the company provided ABC’s reporter with the correct figures before publication. Luckey stated that 1789 Capital invested $50 million, not a controlling or major stake, in a company valued at more than $60 billion. That amounts to roughly one one-thousandth of Anduril’s valuation. He also explained that most of the $6 billion figure consisted of contract ceilings, meaning the maximum amount the government was authorized to spend, rather than money already committed or paid out. In other words, a spending ceiling is not the same thing as a check already cashed. Those details directly challenged the story’s central framing.

ABC Deleted the Story Without a Public Correction

According to Luckey’s account, ABC editors reviewed the article after Anduril raised objections, made only a one-word grammar edit, and stood by the reporting. The page later disappeared, reportedly about eight hours after Luckey publicly called out the network. The article was removed with no correction note, explanation, or apology posted on the page. Media figures later cited a source claiming the story had been published prematurely. Luckey rejected that explanation, saying ABC refused meaningful corrections before deleting the article. He also said the author went quiet, reportedly deleted his X account, and that comments on the story were hidden.

Luckey Called It a Coordinated Influence Operation

Before the deletion, California Governor Gavin Newsom and other Democratic critics amplified the ABC story across social media. Luckey described the episode as a coordinated influence operation planted by Anduril’s competition, rather than an innocent premature publication. That is Luckey’s allegation, but his account describes the following timeline: the article went live, prominent figures shared it widely, Anduril demanded corrections, ABC made a minor edit, editors defended the claims, and the page was then wiped. When a major news outlet removes a politically explosive story without explaining what went wrong, readers are left with questions that a simple correction could have answered.

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