Defense Industry and Drone Warfare

The Associated Press reports that Florida-based drone company Powerus, which recently brought Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. on board with prospective equity stakes, is actively pitching its drone interceptors to Gulf countries currently under Iranian attack and reliant on U.S. military protection directed by their father, President Donald Trump. Co‑founder Brett Velicovich says the firm is conducting multiple demonstrations across the Middle East to showcase its defensive interceptors, while declining to name the specific countries involved. Ethics experts like former George W. Bush White House lawyer Richard Painter warn that Gulf governments may feel intense pressure to buy from the president’s sons to secure favorable treatment from Washington, calling it a case of the First Family potentially making money off a war launched without explicit congressional authorization. Powerus is also positioning itself to tap into a $1.1 billion Pentagon program meant to build a domestic armed‑drone manufacturing base after a Trump‑era ban on Chinese imports, and Velicovich frames the effort as part of an urgent arms race with China and Russia. The story highlights the expanding web of Trump family business ventures—from crypto to federal contracting—and deepens long‑running concerns about war profiteering, conflicts of interest, and foreign leverage over U.S. decision‑making in the Iran conflict.