Financial Times: Trump’s sons acquire stake in strategic mining project in Kazakhstan
The sons of US President Donald Trump are involved in a tungsten mining project in Kazakhstan, which is expected to help Washington reduce its dependence on China for metals used in defense industries.
The Financial Times reported that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump invested in Skyline Builders last August through a brokerage firm affiliated with Dominary Securities, before strengthening their investment position in October by injecting additional funds in a private placement that raised $24 million.
The WSJ reported that, separately, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev informed his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on September 22, 2025, that he intended to award a major tungsten project to the American investment group Cove Kaz Capital, according to a source familiar with the discussion.
Cove Kaz, which is backed by the US government, was competing with Chinese and Russian companies, the newspaper added.
On October 31, documents showed that Skyline had agreed to pay $20 million for a 20% stake in a company that owns significant vital mineral assets in Asia.
That company was Cove Kaz Resources, a subsidiary of the New York-based Cove Kaz Capital Group, which also controls Cove Kaz.
Last year the US Export-Import Bank and the Development Finance Corporation, both federally funded agencies, pledged up to $1.6 billion to support the development of the North Katabar and Upper Kairakety tungsten mining projects in central Kazakhstan, with the company Cove Kaz currently controlling 70% of the two projects.
On November 6, Cove Kaz Capital and the National Mining Company of Kazakhstan announced an agreement to develop the world’s largest known untapped tungsten resource.
On Thursday, Cove Capital and Cove Resources agreed to merge with Skyline.
The new company plans to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the name Cove Resources.
The Trump brothers weren’t mentioned in the press release announcing the merger.
A spokesman for Donald Trump Jr. said the president’s son is an indirect investor in American Ventures and has no operational role there.
He also doesn’t communicate with the federal government on behalf of any company he invests in or advises.
The Trump administration is seeking to establish new supply chains for critical minerals, including rare earth elements, with the goal of reducing China’s control over global supplies.
These minerals are used in drilling tools, armor-piercing bullets, and so-called kinetic energy missiles.
Quentin Lamarche, CEO of metals trading firm TechMet SCM, said Kazakhstan’s tungsten deposits are rich in terms of reserves, but are still in their early stages.
He added, “Operating the mines will take a lot of time, effort, and money”.
