ABC News retracts and revises $2.5 billion Anduril story

The network privately blamed an early release before an editor note acknowledged errors in reporting on Donald Trump Jr.

When ABC News retracted an investigative report about Donald Trump Jr. and defense contractor Anduril Industries, network staff initially told outside parties that the draft had simply slipped out before it was ready.¹² Internal correspondence shows that editors had repeatedly reviewed the central financial assertion and decided to stand by it before pulling the article down.¹

The network published the original investigation on October 7, 2026, under the headline, "Trump sons' investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election."²³ Written by investigative reporter Nathan Lee, the article examined federal contracts awarded to defense technology companies connected to the president's family.¹³ Central to the piece was a recent $6.6 billion agreement between the United States Navy and Anduril to construct a submarine manufacturing facility in Maryland.¹⁴

In linking the contract to the Trump family, the original story focused on 1789 Capital, an investment firm where Donald Trump Jr. serves as a partner.¹² The report stated that 1789 Capital "claimed a major stake in Anduril in June 2025 from a $2.5 billion investment into the company."¹³ That phrasing conflated the total capital raised by Anduril across an entire financing round with the specific sum contributed by 1789 Capital.²³

Shortly after the piece appeared online, Anduril representatives contacted Lee to demand immediate corrections.¹ The defense contractor pointed out that 1789 Capital had contributed $50 million during the round, representing a fraction of the $2.5 billion raised.¹⁴ In an email sent to the reporter, an Anduril spokesperson wrote that 1789 Capital owns approximately 0.13 percent of Anduril and holds no major investor rights.¹ The spokesperson added that any suggestion that the firm financed the entire round or possessed a major ownership or governance stake was inaccurate.¹

Lee replied on Wednesday afternoon that he had consulted his editors and updated the phrasing slightly, but the network was otherwise standing by its framing.¹ Lee told the company that the network had pulled the major stake language from prior reporting, and because 1789 Capital claimed a stake from the $2.5 billion funding round, editors were standing by the language to that extent.¹

Anduril representatives pressed the issue again in follow-up correspondence.¹ The company told Lee that the revised passage still read as though 1789 Capital had invested the entire $2.5 billion sum, rather than its actual $50 million contribution, and urged the network to state the smaller amount and note that the firm held less than one percent ownership.¹ Lee returned to the company later Wednesday afternoon with a final refusal from management.¹ He wrote that his editors said they were standing by the language.¹

By Thursday, the network reversed course entirely.¹³ ABC News removed the article from its website without an initial public explanation.¹² Behind the scenes, Peter Charalambous, an ABC News producer in New York, reached out to Anduril and Powerus, a drone contractor also discussed in the report, asserting that the piece had been published prematurely before being taken down.¹

That explanation conflicted with the previous day's editorial deliberations, during which network editors twice evaluated the dispute and reaffirmed the text.¹ The piece had also been discussed during the network's standard morning editorial meeting on the day of publication and circulated across normal internal distribution lists without immediate procedural objections.¹

The removal sparked swift public criticism from the subjects of the piece.²³ Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for 1789 Capital, stated publicly that the firm held no major stake in Anduril and argued that the network had confused the total funds raised with the capital provided by 1789 Capital.²³ Donald Trump Jr. also attacked the takedown, writing on social media that the network deleted the article in less than 24 hours because it was false.²³

On Friday evening, ABC News republished a thoroughly revised version of the investigation.¹² The new text appeared under a different headline, "New shipyard announced amid earlier Democratic concerns about potential conflicts of interest," and replaced Lee's individual byline with a collective tag reading ABC NEWS.⁴³ The revised text also carried an explicit editor note at the top:¹⁴

Editor’s Note: CORRECTION: A version of this story published on Oct. 7 contained errors in the description of certain company investments, government contracts and event chronologies. After subsequent reporting, this version contains corrected information and additional context regarding some of those investments, contracts and events.⁴¹

The revised story altered several fundamental claims.⁴³ It noted that 1789 Capital invested $50 million into Anduril as part of the broader $2.5 billion round last year, characterizing the holding as a relatively small stake in a company valued at more than $60 billion.⁴³ The updated piece also included statements from a 1789 Capital spokesperson noting that investment choices are made by a three-person committee that does not include Donald Trump Jr., who has no ability to decide fund investments.⁴³

The revision expanded context surrounding several other companies scrutinized by congressional Democrats, including Vulcan Elements, Firehawk Aerospace, PsiQuantum, and Hadrian.⁴ In each case, the updated reporting incorporated corporate statements and contracting timelines, noting that many federal engagements and initial investments occurred under previous administrations or predated the involvement of the Trump family.⁴

The published correction made no mention of an accidental or early posting.¹⁴ In response to inquiries about the sequence, a network source said that the organization always reviews every situation in a thorough manner and would provide no further comment, while noting that removing a published article remains extremely rare at the network.¹

For the companies caught in the coverage, the shifting explanations offered little comfort.¹ Brett Velicovich, a co-founder of Powerus, argued that the network's handling of the piece undermined confidence in media scrutiny, stating that the damage had already occurred.¹

What this rests on

40 sentences trace to 4 sources.

All 4Documents 1Records 0Reporting 3People 0

1. 1 MT Max Tani Document · semafor.com · 12 Oct 2026 Exclusive: ABC News offers contradictory explanation for vanishing Anduril story See the source
2. 2 TD The Daily Caller Third-party reporting · dailycaller.com · 10 Oct 2026 ABC News Issues Correction After Appearing To Quietly Delete Story About Trump Family Member See the source
3. 3 F foxnews.com Third-party reporting · foxnews.com · 10 Oct 2026 ABC News quietly republishes gutted version of story on Trump sons it had deleted without explanation See the source
4. 4 AN ABC News Third-party reporting · abcnews.com · 9 Oct 2026 New shipyard announced amid earlier Democratic concerns about potential conflicts of interest See the source