ABC News Acknowledges Errors in Trump Sons Report It Mysteriously Deleted

AP Photo/Richard Drew

ABC News has republished a report examining the business dealings of President Donald Trump’s sons after abruptly scrubbing it from its website, acknowledging that the original article contained multiple factual errors.

The network published the original report Wednesday under the headline, “Trump sons’ investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election,” alleging that companies with financial ties to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump had landed billions of dollars in government contracts.

But less than 24 hours later, the article vanished, with ABC offering no initial public explanation for its disappearance.

The story was reposted Friday with an editor’s note admitting to inaccuracies involving investments, federal contracts, and the timing of events. Its new headline read, “New shipyard announced amid earlier Democratic concerns about potential conflicts of interest.”

The editor’s note states:

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.

The reversal follows a public rebuke from Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for 1789 Capital, the venture capital firm where Trump Jr. serves as a partner. She disputed the original report’s characterization of the firm’s investments, insisting that “1789 Capital does not have a ‘major stake’ in Anduril” and that it was inaccurate to describe several other companies as being backed personally by the Trump brothers.

The revised article specifies that 1789 Capital invested $50 million in defense contractor Anduril, which has been valued at more than $60 billion. It also notes that, according to a spokesperson for the firm, Trump Jr. is not on the three-person committee that makes investment decisions.

The original report had incorrectly attributed a $2.5 billion investment in Anduril to 1789 Capital. That figure actually represented the company’s entire funding round.

Trump Jr. had previously celebrated the article’s disappearance while mocking California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who shared the original report.

“ABC deleted this article in less than 24 hours because it’s false. Sounds about as long as your presidential campaign would last,” he wrote on X.

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