NYT: Trump sons linked to Kazakhstan tungsten investment project

The sons of US President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are involved in investment arrangements tied to the development of a major tungsten deposit in Kazakhstan, according to documents cited by The New York Times.

Investors from Dominari Securities, a company co-owned by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, have acquired a 20% stake in a legal entity associated with the Kazakh tungsten project alongside other partners.

Meanwhile, Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment firm controlled by the Lutnick family and managed by Howard Lutnick's sons, Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, helped one of the key investors working with Dominari on the Kazakhstan deal raise $210 million in new capital.

Earlier this spring, the Financial Times reported that Trump's sons had joined the Kazakhstan tungsten mining project.

According to The New York Times, Kazakhstan's leadership has been actively strengthening ties with the United States during Trump's second term, seeking to maintain a balance between its two largest neighbours, Russia and China.

"We are driven by a pragmatic approach," said Nurlan Zhakupov, Chairman of the Management Board of Kazakhstan's Samruk-Kazyna National Wealth Fund.

"If we see merit in working with the U.S., the E.U., a Chinese, Russian, Korean, German, Emirati or whatever company, we assess it on a relative performance basis and we choose what is the best for us," he added.

"For the business relationship, it has never been better," Jeff Ehrlich, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan, stated.

The newspaper notes that Trump views countries such as Kazakhstan through the lens of the deals they can offer. One of Washington's top priorities is securing access to critical mineral reserves and exporting them via the Middle Corridor, a trade route that passes through the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus, bypassing Russia.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov