ABC deleted the Oct. 7 report on the Trump sons' investments in companies receiving Pentagon contracts, then republished it Oct. 9 with a correction acknowledging errors in descriptions of investments, government contracts and event chronologies. Semafor reported that editors initially reviewed and stood by the article, citing emails that contradicted ABC's explanation that it was “published prematurely.”
The original analysis claimed companies backed by Trump's sons had received more than $6 billion in active or promised government contracts since their investments. Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey disputed that figure, saying most represented hypothetical contract ceilings. He also said 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, invested $50 million in Anduril, about 1/1000th of the company, rather than the “major stake” ABC described.