The President's Son and the Drone Maker: Inside Eric Trump's Investment in Israeli AI Weapons Firm XTEND

In February 2026, XTEND—an Israeli drone and robotics company whose products have been deployed in Gaza, Ukraine, and by the U.S. military—announced plans to go public on the Nasdaq at a $1.5 billion valuation. Among the strategic investors backing the deal: Eric Trump, the son of the sitting U.S. president [1][2][3].

The investment places the Trump family at the intersection of defense contracting, Middle East policy, and AI-powered weapons development during a period of expanding Pentagon drone budgets and active U.S. military aid to Israel. Ethics watchdogs say the arrangement creates at minimum the appearance of a conflict of interest. XTEND and its supporters say the company's technology speaks for itself.

The Deal

XTEND announced on February 17, 2026, that it would merge with JFB Construction Holdings, a publicly listed Florida firm, in an all-stock transaction valuing the combined entity at approximately $1.5 billion [3][4]. The merged company will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker "XTND" as "XTEND AI Robotics," with closing expected by mid-2026 [3].

The transaction is backed by $152 million raised from a group of strategic investors including Eric Trump, Israel's Protego Ventures, Florida drone maker Unusual Machines, Texas-based American Ventures LLC, Miami-based Aliya Capital, and the Agostinelli Group [3][4]. Following the merger, XTEND shareholders will hold roughly 70% of the combined company, with JFB shareholders retaining approximately 30% [3].

Neither XTEND nor Eric Trump has publicly disclosed the exact dollar amount of his personal investment or whether it comes with a board seat or formal governance role [1][2]. JFB did appoint Stefan Passantino, a former White House attorney under Donald Trump, to its board as part of the deal [1]. Eric Trump's stated rationale was straightforward: "Drones are clearly the wave of the future. Xtend has unbelievable potential" [1].

What XTEND Makes

Founded in 2018 in Tel Aviv by brothers Aviv and Matteo Shapira—who previously sold their 360-degree video company Replay Technologies to Intel for roughly $175 million [7]—XTEND builds what it calls an "eXtended Operating System" (XOS), an AI-driven platform that enables operators with minimal training to control drones and ground robots in GPS-denied and communications-degraded environments [5][6].

The company's product line spans multiple categories: micro-tactical ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) drones for indoor and underground operations, FPV (first-person view) assault drones capable of carrying 2.5 kilogram explosive payloads, counter-drone interceptors, and coordinated swarm systems that allow a single operator to direct multiple air, ground, and maritime platforms simultaneously [5][6][8].

XTEND's systems are integrated into Lockheed Martin's multi-domain command-and-control architecture [5]. The company operates facilities in Israel, Tampa (Florida), and Singapore, employing roughly 100 people across all three locations [5][6]. It has sold more than 10,000 systems to military and security forces in over 30 countries [5].

Critically, XTEND markets its products using the phrase "low cost per kill"—a term that has drawn scrutiny from critics who argue it reduces lethal military operations to an efficiency metric [2].

Battlefield Record: Gaza, Ukraine, and the Sinwar Operation

XTEND's drones are not theoretical products. They have extensive combat records.

During the Gaza conflict that began in October 2023, XTEND rapidly redesigned its drone technology to meet IDF requirements, including mapping Hamas tunnel networks and conducting reconnaissance in GPS-denied underground environments [8][9]. The IDF ordered 5,000 FPV assault drones from the company under a contract valued at approximately $6 million [9].

Most prominently, foreign media reported that an XTEND drone was used in the October 2024 operation that located and helped kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Rafah. According to reports, the drone hovered over Sinwar's position after IDF soldiers engaged militants leaving a building, and subsequently surveyed the interior where the wounded Sinwar was found [6][10]. Widely circulated drone footage showed Sinwar in his final moments, injured and attempting to throw debris at the hovering aircraft [10].

This combat track record became a direct competitive advantage. XTEND CEO Aviv Shapira told Israeli media that his company's battlefield experience helped it win Pentagon contracts over American competitors, including Anduril: "We gave them a full perspective—how it is to fight with drones" [6].

XTEND's technology has also been deployed in Ukraine, primarily as software installed on third-party drone hardware, supporting Ukrainian forces against Russian positions [5][6].

On the question of autonomous targeting, XTEND states that its AI handles flight control and target detection, but all lethal strike decisions require human authorization [6][8]. The company describes its approach as "human-guided autonomy"—AI supports but does not replace human operators in life-or-death decisions [8].

Pentagon Contracts and the Drone Dominance Program

XTEND's U.S. government business has grown rapidly. Key milestones include:

• December 2024: An $8.8 million contract for urban combat drones, with additional contracts supplying systems to the Army, Marine Corps, and Navy [1][5].
• November 2025: A Pentagon contract valued at "tens of millions of dollars" to develop and supply hundreds of AI-based one-way attack drones, formally designated "modular one-way attack systems, or ACQME-DK" [1][6].
• February 2026: Selection as one of 25 companies invited to compete in Phase I of the Pentagon's Drone Dominance Program, a $150 million acquisition effort to field 30,000 low-cost attack drones [1][11][12].

However, XTEND did not ultimately receive delivery orders in the initial Gauntlet evaluation at Fort Benning [12]. The company's Pentagon business nonetheless runs into the tens of millions annually, and it has mandated NDAA-compliant domestic manufacturing at its Tampa facility [3][6].

Source: GDELT Project

Data as of Mar 23, 2026CSV

The Pentagon's fiscal year 2026 budget request established an independent $13.4 billion budget line for AI and autonomous systems, with $9.4 billion—roughly 70%—allocated for aerial drones [13]. This represents a major expansion of the addressable market for companies like XTEND.

The Ethics Question

The core ethical concern is structural: Eric Trump is investing in a company that derives significant revenue from Pentagon contracts, and those contracts are awarded by an executive branch led by his father.

Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, drew a pointed comparison: "A child receiving benefits from government contracts...That's something we haven't seen since Halliburton and VP Cheney" [1]. Payne added that there had been no reassuring public statements from administration leadership about preventing special treatment [1].

Several factors amplify these concerns:

Weakened oversight infrastructure. On his first day back in office in January 2025, President Trump rescinded an executive order requiring appointees to comply with an ethics pledge barring them from working on issues related to former clients for two years [14]. Weeks later, Trump fired 17 inspectors general and removed the head of the Office of Government Ethics [14].

Family pattern. Eric Trump's XTEND investment is one of at least eleven companies the Trump sons have joined since their father's 2024 election victory [2]. Donald Trump Jr. separately backed Unusual Machines, a Florida drone manufacturer that is itself a strategic investor in XTEND's Nasdaq merger [2][4].

No legal prohibition. Unlike the president and vice president, who are subject to financial disclosure requirements, children of the president face no specific federal ethics rules or disclosure obligations regarding their investments. There is no law preventing Eric Trump from investing in defense contractors [1][14].

The Kushner Precedent

Eric Trump's investment invites comparison to the most scrutinized financial arrangement involving a Trump family member: Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners.

Kushner, who served as a senior White House advisor during Trump's first term and played a central role in Middle East policy, launched Affinity Partners the day after Trump left office in January 2021. Six months later, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund committed $2 billion to the firm—despite the fund's internal advisory panel flagging concerns about the deal's terms and Kushner's lack of private equity experience [15][16].

The House Oversight Committee investigated whether Kushner's financial relationships improperly influenced U.S. foreign policy, noting his "unwavering" support for Saudi interests even as Congress scrutinized the kingdom's role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi [15][16]. In March 2026, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden and House Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia launched a new investigation into Kushner raising billions from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds while simultaneously co-leading Trump administration negotiations in the region [17].

In raw dollar terms, Kushner's $2 billion Saudi arrangement dwarfs Eric Trump's undisclosed stake in a $152 million investor pool. But the structural similarity is clear: a presidential family member with financial interests that overlap with policy decisions made by the administration.

The Commercial Case

Separate from political considerations, there is a commercial rationale for investing in XTEND.

The global military drone market was valued at approximately $18-20 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to $30-98 billion by the early 2030s, depending on the estimate and scope [13]. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have accelerated demand for low-cost, AI-enabled tactical drones, and governments worldwide are expanding procurement budgets accordingly.

XTEND claims to have doubled its sales annually, reaching "tens of millions of dollars" in revenue [5][6]. Its $70 million Series B round in mid-2025, led by Protego Ventures and Aliya Capital with participation from Len Blavatnik's Claltech, valued the company well below the $1.5 billion Nasdaq listing target [4][5]. The company's integration into Lockheed Martin's architecture, its contracts with militaries in 30+ countries, and its selection for the Drone Dominance Program all suggest genuine commercial traction [5][11].

Still, the $1.5 billion valuation is aggressive for a company with annual revenue in the tens of millions. The premium appears to reflect both the sector's growth trajectory and the signaling value of its investor roster.

Other Investors and Strategic Partners

XTEND's investor base reads as a who's who of defense-adjacent capital:

• Protego Ventures: Israeli venture firm that led both the $70 million Series B and participated in the $152 million merger round [3][4].
• Aliya Capital: Miami-based firm that co-led the Series B [4].
• Len Blavatnik's Claltech: Investment vehicle of the Ukrainian-born billionaire with extensive holdings across media and industry [4].
• Unusual Machines: A publicly traded Florida drone manufacturer backed by Donald Trump Jr., creating an interlocking Trump family investment in the drone sector [2][4].
• Union-Tech Ventures and Chartered Group: Additional Series B participants [4].

Eric Trump's involvement changes XTEND's profile in tangible ways. The company—previously known mainly within defense and Israeli tech circles—now carries the Trump brand, with all the political access and controversy that implies. Whether that access translates into favorable contract treatment is the question ethics watchdogs will be monitoring.

What Happens Next

The XTEND-JFB merger is expected to close by mid-2026. If completed, XTEND AI Robotics will become a publicly traded U.S. defense company with an Israeli founder team, a presidential family member among its investors, and active contracts with both the Pentagon and the IDF [3][4].

The company plans to open three new manufacturing facilities in 2026—two in Europe and one in Singapore—expanding its production capacity for NATO and Asian markets [6]. Its participation in the Drone Dominance Program, while it did not yield initial delivery orders, keeps it in the Pentagon's competitive pipeline for future procurement rounds [11][12].

Federal decisions that could directly affect XTEND's business during the current administration include export license approvals for drone technology, military procurement allocations within the $13.4 billion autonomous systems budget line, foreign military aid packages to Israel, and any regulatory changes to drone warfare standards [13][14]. Each of these decisions runs through executive branch agencies under the president's authority.

No mechanism currently exists to wall off Eric Trump's financial interest from his father's policy decisions. The question is not whether a conflict of interest exists in law—it largely doesn't, for presidential family members—but whether the arrangement undermines public confidence in the integrity of defense contracting and foreign policy.

As Kedric Payne of the Campaign Legal Center put it: the issue is "the president's family appearing to profit from the presidency" [1]. XTEND's defenders would counter that the company won its contracts on merit, through battlefield-proven technology that American competitors could not match. Both claims can be true simultaneously.