Trump Awards $2.9B Navy Contract to Anduril, a Defense Firm Backed by Don Jr-Linked Venture Fund

President Donald Trump's administration has handed Anduril Industries a Navy contract worth up to $2.9B (£2.2B) to build parts for Virginia-class attack submarines, a deal Trump unveiled in person on Tuesday 6 October. Among Anduril's backers is 1789 Capital, the venture fund where his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is a partner.

Trump made the announcement at Tradepoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point, Baltimore County, Maryland. The industrial site, once home to Bethlehem Steel, is where Anduril plans to build Arsenal-2, a shipyard covering more than 2 million square feet.

Speaking to the crowd, Trump said America would 'remain the undisputed naval superpower of the world.'

Anduril will put $3.7B (£2.8B) of its own money into the yard. White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said the combined $6.6B (£4.9B) commitment would generate $2B (£1.5B) a year in economic output, and the company expects 3,100 direct jobs plus about 11,000 indirect ones.

Anduril said Navy payments are tied to what the facility produces, with the company carrying most of the execution risk. 'It's really the government buying the results of what we're able to produce from the facility that we've invested in,' said Chris Brose, Anduril's president and chief strategy officer.

Why the Navy Wants Another Shipyard

US yards currently deliver about 1.1 to 1.2 Virginia-class boats a year, short of the Navy's target of two. A senior administration official said Arsenal-2 could lift capacity by roughly 15 per cent and described torpedo tubes as a 'gating component' holding up submarines already under construction.

Initial operations in Maryland are not expected until 2030. Until then, Anduril is making simpler parts such as torpedo tubes at a plant in Orange County, California, before moving on to larger modules and hull sections. Finished components will go to General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII's Newport News Shipbuilding, which assemble the submarines.

In August, reports said Anduril was negotiating to build drone boats at the site, an account co-founder Palmer Luckey publicly disputed. On Tuesday, Trump spoke of 'autonomous subs' being built there, which Anduril said was not the plan.

Maryland and Baltimore County have pledged to match up to 13 per cent of Anduril's anticipated investment, subject to approval by state and county lawmakers.

Governor Wes Moore, a Democrat who had praised the deal, was removed from the speakers' list by the White House on Monday, 5 October. He said he would 'let the circus be conducted' while he returned to state business.

The 1789 Capital Connection

Trump Jr. joined 1789 Capital as a partner four days after his father won the 2024 election. The firm's investment in Anduril was first reported by Business Insider in May 2025, and its size has not been disclosed. Anduril was valued at $30.5B (£22.8B) in June 2025 and doubled to $61B (£45.5B) after a $5B (£3.7B) round in May 2026.

On 27 August, Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, opened an investigation into 1789, naming Anduril among portfolio companies he said had benefited from administration decisions. His office said the firm managed roughly $150M (£112M) before Trump Jr. arrived and now oversees more than $3B (£2.2B).

'With Don Jr.'s new leadership role, 1789 Capital has developed an uncanny ability to identify companies that are about to receive massive influxes of cash from the Trump Administration or to benefit from significant changes in federal policies and regulations,' Raskin wrote.

Lawyers for 1789 rejected the inquiry in a September letter, stating that 'political association is not a substitute for evidence.' The firm and Trump Jr.'s team have denied any improper influence, and no evidence of wrongdoing has been made public. With Democrats in the minority, Raskin cannot compel documents.

A Washington Post analysis in July found that companies backed by funds tied to the Trump brothers had won more than $3.2B (£2.4B) in Pentagon deals during the second Trump administration, with Anduril and SpaceX accounting for 97 per cent of the direct government money.

The submarine award came six days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth named Luckey a co-lead of Project Meridian, a 120-day Pentagon review of future weapons needs, alongside Elon Musk and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.