MW Donald Trump Jr.'s new career: Advising companies

By James Rogers

From mixed martial arts to prediction markets and drones, the president's eldest son is being paid for giving his counsel

Donald Trump Jr. prepares to board Air Force One in Scotland this summer.

Donald Trump Jr.'s insights and expertise are in demand across a range of ambitious but little-known companies. He's now advising businesses with operations spanning mixed martial arts, prediction markets, investment banking, drone manufacturing, gun sales and online marketplaces.

Since his father won the presidential election in November 2024, Trump Jr. has become an adviser to eight companies. The 47-year-old is the long-serving executive vice president of the Trump Organization, where he oversees its real-estate property portfolio, and also sits on the board of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (DJT), which operates the president's social-media platform Truth Social.

In the past 10 months, Trump Jr. has joined corporate advisory boards and struck agreements around becoming a consultant or strategic advisor to companies.

On Nov. 27, Trump Jr. joined the advisory board of Unusual Machines Inc. (UMAC), a drone and drone-component maker based in Orlando, Fla. A Securities & Exchange Commission filing by Unusual Machines the day Trump Jr.'s role was announced showed that he owned 332,000 shares in the company. The company's stock soared by 85% the day after his role was unveiled.

"Don Jr. joining our board of advisors provides us unique expertise we need as we bring drone-component manufacturing back to America," said Unusual Machines Chief Executive Allan Evans at the time. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

A month later, in December 2024, Trump Jr. became a consultant for GrabAGun Digital Holdings Inc. (PEW), a gun seller based in Coppell, Texas. In return, he received 300,000 shares of GrabAGun, an SEC filing shows. GrabAGun listed its stock on the New York Stock Exchange in a July IPO that priced at $21.40 per share, valuing Trump Jr.'s stock at $6.4 million. He also joined the company's board that month.

"Donald J. Trump Jr. brings a deep understanding of the firearms industry," GrabAGun said in an SEC filing. "Our business may be harmed, in particular, if Donald J. Trump Jr. ceases to be involved with GrabAGun." In a statement, a GrabAGun spokesperson said Trump Jr. "is working to drive growth for the company while preserving and protecting our fundamental rights as Americans."

Trump Jr.'s advisory work has also been connected to his role at 1789 Capital, a venture-capital firm he joined as a partner after the 2024 presidential election. In August, Polymarket, the world's biggest prediction market, announced that Trump Jr. had joined the company as a strategic adviser as part of an investment that 1789 Capital made in Polymarket. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Days after the announcement, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a letter of no action allowing Polymarket to relaunch its services in the U.S. The CFTC had in 2022 prohibited Polymarket from serving U.S.-based customers.

Donald Trump Jr., the Trump Organization, 1789 Capital and Polymarket did not respond to requests for comment.

The Company He Keeps: Donald Trump Jr.'s new advisory relationships

   Company                          Role                     Start Date 
   Mixed Martial Arts Group         Strategic Advisor        Sept. 9, 2025 
   Polymarket                       Advisory Board Member    Aug. 26, 2025 
   New America Acquisition I Corp.  Advisory Board Member    May 28, 2025 
   Dominari Holdings                Advisory Board Member    Feb. 11, 2025 
   Kalshi                           Strategic Advisor        Jan. 12, 2025 
   GrabAGun                         Consultant and Director  Dec. 31, 2024 
   PSQ Holdings                     Director                 Dec. 3, 2024 
   Unusual Machines                 Advisory Board Member    Nov. 27, 2024 

Jordan Libowitz, vice president of watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, noted Trump Jr.'s prior career experience predominantly revolved around the Trump Organization and related family businesses.

"Something really important is that there's a ton of these [business relationships] now, and there's no history of him being in these areas before," said Libowitz. "His history has always been in his father's companies, mostly in his father's real-estate business.

"You have to ask whether he is being added to these boards in an attempt to get these companies ahead with the Trump administration," Libowitz added.

In the past, Trump Jr. has had engagements outside the Trump family businesses, but they were relatively sparse. For example, he joined publisher Cambridge Who's Who as executive director of global branding and networking in 2010. The New York Times reported that he worked with the company for about a year.

During the Biden administration, congressional and media scrutiny focused on the international business interests of Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, over the period when his father was U.S. vice president and immediately following. Payments Hunter Biden received while he was a director at Ukrainian energy company Burisma and business ties to companies in countries like Romania and China became the subject of congressional reports and were criticized by Trump.

In his latest move, Trump Jr. teamed up with Mixed Martial Arts Group Ltd. (MMA), which announced this week that he is joining as a strategic adviser. As part of Trump Jr.'s two-year contract with Mixed Martial Arts Group, a company affiliated with him received 1.5 million Mixed Martial Arts Group stock options that are exercisable for $.001 per share, an SEC filing shows. Those options were recently valued at $2 million. Trump Jr. cannot sell those shares for one year, according to the securities filing.

Mixed Martial Arts Group did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump Jr. and his brother, Eric Trump, also this year joined the advisory board of investment bank Dominari Holdings Inc. (DOMH) and participated in a private placement in the company.

As part of the private placement, Trump Jr. purchased 216,138 shares in Dominari and warrants to purchase up to 432,276 shares, for an aggregate purchase price of $1 million. Dominari also issued Trump Jr. 250,000 shares upon his appointment to the company's advisory board, according to a securities filing. Dominari pointed MarketWatch to its SEC filings when asked to comment.

In a separate filing in April, Dominari said that Trump Jr. had amassed 1,648,414 shares in the company, but sold 1,504,322, leaving him with 144,092 shares. As of Friday's closing price, Trump Jr.'s stake was worth $945,244.

-James Rogers

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September 13, 2025 08:30 ET (12:30 GMT)

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