ABC News Corrects Trump Sons Investment Report After Scrubbing Original Story

NEW YORK, Oct. 11 (TodayViralUSA) — ABC News has republished a corrected account of business ties involving President Donald Trump’s eldest sons after quietly removing an Oct. 7 report that alleged companies linked to their investments had secured billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts.

The original piece, headlined around Trump sons’ investments winning billions in defense awards since the election, vanished from ABC’s site within about a day amid sharp pushback from 1789 Capital, the venture firm that lists Donald Trump Jr. as a partner, and from Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey. A revised version returned Friday with a new headline focused on a Maryland shipyard announcement and an editor’s note conceding errors.

“A version of this story published on Oct. 7 contained errors in the description of certain company investments, government contracts and event chronologies,” the correction said. “After subsequent reporting, this version contains corrected information and additional context.”

What changed in the revision

The corrected story clarifies that 1789 Capital invested about $50 million in Anduril as part of a broader $2.5 billion funding round — not that the firm alone put up the full $2.5 billion. Anduril is valued at more than $60 billion, making the stake comparatively small. A 1789 Capital spokesperson also told ABC that investment decisions are made by a three-person committee that does not include Trump Jr.

Democratic lawmakers had raised conflict-of-interest questions after Trump and Anduril announced a $6.6 billion Maryland shipyard project to support Virginia-class submarine components. The revised ABC report frames those concerns alongside the corrected investment figures rather than the stronger causal claims of the original headline.

A spokesperson for Trump’s eldest sons said Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump “have built and invested in businesses across a wide range of industries for decades” and “do not seek to influence, direct, or participate in any government decision, procurement, award, regulatory action, or other governmental process.”

Criticism of the takedown

Media critics and investors including Bill Ackman faulted ABC for removing the story without an immediate public explanation, then restoring a narrower version days later. Trump Jr. mocked the deletion on social media, saying the article disappeared “because it’s false.”

ABC has not issued a separate statement beyond the on-page editor’s note. The episode lands weeks before the midterm elections, when coverage of the Trump family’s business dealings and Silicon Valley defense contractors remains intensely political.