Politics

ABC News Issues Correction After Appearing To Quietly Delete Story About Don Jr’s Business Dealings

Donald Trump Jr on "Fox & Friends" [Screenshot/Fox News]

ABC News on Friday published a corrected version of an apparently deleted article from earlier that week which drew conclusions about the business dealings of President Donald Trump’s eldest sons.

Without an immediately clear public explanation, ABC News appeared to take down from its website an Oct. 7 report which attributed a $2.5 billion investment into U.S. defense contractor Anduril to 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm founded in 2022 for which Donald Trump Jr. serves as a partner.

The retracted piece, which ABC News originally headlined “Trump sons’ investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election,” was apparently republished after being revised under a new headline, “New shipyard announced amid earlier Democratic concerns about potential conflicts of interest.”

In addition, an editor’s note was included in the revision published online, reading, “CORRECTION: A version of this story published on Oct. 7 contained errors in the description of certain company investments, government contracts and event chronologies. After subsequent reporting, this version contains corrected information and additional context regarding some of those investments, contracts and events.”

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to ABC News and 1789 Capital for comment.

A spokesperson for 1789 Capital told Fox News that the revised article also clarified that Trump Jr. is not on the three-member committee responsible for making the firm’s investment decisions.

The revisions by ABC News came amid 1789 Capital spokesperson Alexa Henning’s stating the firm “does not have a ‘major stake’ in Anduril,” according to Fox News.

“Here’s a small lesson, that I also explained to ABC, the ‘reporter’ who is a complete idiot conflated raising funds with investment by 1789. Those are two separate actions,” Henning reportedly stated.

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter wrote in an X post Friday that he was told ABC News’s original piece was “published prematurely,” but also predicted there was more to come because that was “obviously not a sufficient explanation.”

Henning, however, promptly dismissed that claim in a post responding to Stelter’s.

Lol no.

It was published, posted on X, and was viral with many prominent Dems reposting.

It wasn’t until we pointed out the majority if not all of it was false that they deleted it.

— Alexa Henning (@alexahenning) October 9, 2026

“Lol no,” Henning wrote, noting that ABC News’s original piece went “viral with many prominent Dems reposting. It wasn’t until we pointed out the majority if not all of it was false that they deleted it.”

One such Democratic figure was Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who posted on X the day of ABC’s original piece that “[t]he American people were fleeced” and “[a]ccountability is coming.”

Trump Jr. responded to Newsom that evening, writing that “ABC deleted this article in less than 24 hours because it’s false. Sounds about as long as your presidential campaign would last.”

ABC deleted this article in less than 24 hours because it’s false. Sounds about as long as your presidential campaign would last.

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 8, 2026

Trump Jr. was notably engaged to Newsom’s ex-wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle, from around December 2020 until late 2024, having dated since 2018. Guilfoyle, currently serving as the U.S. ambassador to Greece, is facing scrutiny over a recent report that she requested a donor supporting President Trump to quietly send her $100,000 days before her Senate confirmation. Trump Jr. married socialite Bettina Anderson in December 2025; Newsom married actress Jennifer Siebel in 2008.