A rare earths startup that is backed by Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm and received a hefty Pentagon contract insists politics had nothing to do with it.
Vulcan Elements, a North Carolina-based company that produces rare earth magnets and is backed by 1789 Capital — where President Donald Trump’s eldest son is a partner — secured a $620 million direct federal loan last month from the Department of Defense.
The funding was part of a broader $1.4 billion deal with ReElement Technologies that aims to boost domestic production of rare earth magnets. The magnets are used to make everything from drones and semiconductor equipment to robotics, EV batteries, wind turbines and smartphones.
The deal is nabbing headlines and raising questions among ethics experts given its proximity to Trump’s son.
