The NYT named the Trump and Lutnik families as beneficiaries of the deal with Kazakhstan

The sons of US President Donald Trump and relatives of the head of the US Department of Commerce, Howard Lutnik, will become beneficiaries of the tungsten mining project in Kazakhstan. This was reported on June 28 by The New York Times (NYT).

According to the newspaper, federal funding for the project has been approved in the amount of up to $1.6 billion. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump received a 20% stake through an investment company, and relatives of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik raised $210 million for one of the investors.

The partnership with the Kazakh side was formalized six days before the signing of the deal at the C5+1 summit in November 2025. The representative of Donald Trump Jr. clarified that he acts only as a passive investor and does not participate in the operational activities of companies.

The deal covers the development of two deposits of tungsten trioxide — North Katpar and Upper Kayrakty. The total reserves are estimated at 1.4 million tons, and the planned production is about 12 thousand tons per year.

Sent Cossack from Washington: Rubio goes to Central Asia for minerals

The interests of the United States, the EU, China and Russia intersect in the region.

On May 19, the US Department of Justice signed an agreement according to which Trump and his family members are exempt from any tax claims. The decision was made as part of the termination of Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The document was signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.