Company advised by Trump sons said it hoped to benefit from fed money, then took it back
But when The Associated Press asked the Trump family business about the apparent conflict of interest, the document was revised and the line taken out.
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are getting 'founder shares' worth millions of dollars in New America Acquisition 1 Corp., a company with no operating business that hopes to fill that hole by purchasing an American company that can play 'a meaningful role in revitalizing domestic manufacturing,' according to to the filing. The president has geared his trade policy toward boosting manufacturing in the U.S.
The original version of the securities filing said the target company should be 'well positioned' to tap federal or state government incentives. That reference was taken out of the revised version of the filing.
The Trump Organization didn't reply to a question about whether New America still planned to benefit from government programs or why the line was cut. But the outside law firm Paul Weiss that helped prepare the document sent an email to AP saying it was 'mistake' made by 'scriveners,' an old term for transcribers of legal papers.
Kathleen Clark, an expert in government ethics, said any excuses are too late because the Trumps had already tipped their hand.
Monday Mornings
The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week.
'They just deleted the language. They haven't committed not to do what they said earlier today they were planning to do,' said the Washington University law professor and Trump critic. 'It's an attempt to exploit public office for private profit.'
New America is what's know as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. It's a publicly traded company that exists solely to use its funds to acquire another company and take the target public.
New America plans to raise money by selling stock on the New York Stock Exchange at $10 a share. That will hand the two Trump sons a total of $5 million in paper wealth on the first day of trading. The company hopes to sell enough shares to raise $300 million, which it then plans to use buying a yet unidentified manufacturer.
A press release issued by New America saying it was focused on 'American values and priorities.' It made no mention of the aim to get government incentives.
The filing to New America's potential new investors to Securities and Exchange Commission was explicit about what it was looking for in target company. It said, among other things, it would that can ride 'public policy tailwinds' by benefiting from federal or state 'grants, tax credits, government contracts or preferential procurement programs.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
6 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
UCLA says Trump administration has frozen $584 million in grants, threatening research
Published Aug 06, 2025 • 2 minute read The Trump administration has suspended $584 million in federal grants for the University of California, Los Angeles, nearly double the amount that was previously thought, the school's chancellor announced Wednesday. UCLA is the first public university whose federal grants have been targeted by the administration over allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action. The Trump administration has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against private colleges. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account 'If these funds remain suspended, it will be devastating for UCLA and for Americans across the nation,' Chancellor Julio Frenk said Wednesday in a statement, noting the groundbreaking research that has come out of the university. The departments affected rely on funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, Frenk said. The U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment. The Trump administration recently announced the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division found UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 'by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The announcement came as UCLA reached a $6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor who sued the university, arguing it violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters in 2024 to block their access to classes and other areas on campus. The university has said that it is committed to campus safety and inclusivity and will continue to implement recommendations. The new UC president, James B. Milliken, said in a statement Wednesday that it has agreed to talks with the administration over the allegations against UCLA. 'These cuts do nothing to address antisemitism,' Milliken said. 'Moreover, the extensive work that UCLA and the entire University of California have taken to combat antisemitism has apparently been ignored.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Milliken said the 'cuts would be a death knell for innovative work that saves lives, grows our economy, and fortifies our national security. It is in our country's best interest that funding be restored.' As part of the lawsuit settlement, UCLA said it will contribute $2.3 million to eight organizations that combat antisemitism and support the university's Jewish community. It also has created an Office of Campus and Community Safety, instituting new policies to manage protests on campus. Frenk, whose Jewish father and grandparents fled Nazi Germany to Mexico and whose wife is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, launched an initiative to combat antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias. Last week, Columbia agreed to pay $200 million as part of a settlement to resolve investigations into the government's allegations that the school violated federal antidiscrimination laws. The agreement also restores more than $400 million in research grants. The Trump administration plans to use its deal with Columbia as a template for other universities, with financial penalties that are now seen as an expectation. RECOMMENDED VIDEO World Celebrity Columnists Golf Television
Winnipeg Free Press
6 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump once hailed mRNA vaccines as a ‘medical miracle.' Now RFK Jr. is halting advancement
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump hailed as a 'medical miracle' the mRNA vaccines developed to combat the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Now, his health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is effectively halting the vaccine technology's advancement. Kennedy announced Tuesday that the federal government is canceling $500 million worth of mRNA research development contracts, putting an end to U.S.-backed hopes for the vaccine technology to prevent future pandemics, treat cancer or prevent flu infections. It's a sharp pivot from how Trump and top officials described the technology during his first term. Here's a look at what Trump and some of his closest advisers have said about mRNA vaccines that were credited with slowing the pandemic five years ago. Robert Redfield, Trump's director of the Center's for Disease Control 'A COVID-19 vaccine is the thing that will get Americans back to normal everyday life,' said Redfield, in a Sept. 16, 2020 statement. Americans were still donning face masks as one of the few ways of protecting themselves from a virus that had killed nearly 200,000 in just over six months. Redfield promised that the new vaccines — developed for the first time using mRNA technology — would offer a return to normalcy. Trump wanted to make sure Biden didn't get credit 'Don't let Joe Biden take credit for the vaccines … because the vaccines were me, and I pushed people harder than they've ever been pushed before .. The vaccines are — there are those that say it's one of the greatest things. It's a medical miracle.' Trump said on Nov. 26, 2020 said during a news conference in the White House. Weeks earlier, Trump had lost the election in a bitter race against Democrat Joe Biden. As the Republican grappled with leaving Washington and continued to plan for the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, he reminded reporters that he oversaw the development of the new shots. 'They say it's somewhat of a miracle and I think that's true,' Trump said on Dec. 8, 2020 during a speech at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The event celebrated 'Operation Warp Speed,' the government-funded project that accelerated vaccine development with pharmaceutical companies. Trump was promoting the shots as the government prepared to offer them to frontline health workers. Trump's first-term health secretary, Alex Azar 'It's clear that many Americans are learning these vaccines are safe and extraordinarily effective,' Azar said on Dec. 16, 2020 at a news conference. The government was shipping out mRNA vaccines to states, preparing to distributed it to the masses. Azar noted that a vast majority of Americans — between 70% to 80%, according to polls — intended to get the new COVID-19 vaccine that would be available to the public in the coming months. Gen. Gusave Perna, Trump's chief operating officer for pandemic response 'It takes somewhere between five and 10 years to put a vaccine on the street. Look what we did. Now, that's because of the great work of the scientists who had done the research on mRNA vaccines and others because of industry working on this, they just didn't wake up one day and start working on it,' Perna said during a podcast interview that aired on May 9, 2023. Reflecting in an interview about his time overseeing 'Operation Warp Speed,' Perna credited the mRNA technology with the government's ability to get shots in arms mere months after the pandemic started claiming lives in the U.S. in 2020. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Trump supporters boo his vaccine accomplishments 'Take credit because we saved tens of millions of lives. Take credit. Don't let them take that away from you,' Trump said on Dec. 19, 2021 during a live interview with former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. Daily COVID-19 deaths had ticked down to 1,500 compared to 3,000 from a year earlier after Americans began receiving their first doses of the mRNA vaccines. Trump revealed to O'Reilly and the audience that he had just gotten a COVID-19 booster. The crowd booed.
Global News
6 minutes ago
- Global News
Canadian Nexus applicants can no longer pick ‘X' for gender after U.S. rule
Canadians renewing or applying for Nexus travel cards can no longer choose an X gender marker, following an executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump that said the American government will only recognize male or female. The change took effect in February 2025. New applicants and people renewing their membership can apply using a Canadian passport with the 'X' gender identifier but will have to select 'male' or 'female' for their Nexus membership, said Luke Reimer, spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency. Current Nexus cards identifying members by a gender other than 'male' or 'female' will remain valid until they expire, the spokesperson said. Nexus memberships are valid for five years and are meant to speed up border crossings between Canada and the United States. The CBSA spokesperson said that while Canada and the U.S. share management of the Nexus program, the application process is housed on a U.S system operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Story continues below advertisement The spokesperson said that while the Government of Canada recognizes the 'X' gender identifier, it can't guarantee entry or transit through other countries. 'Not all countries have the same values and legal system that we have in Canada,' Reimer said in a statement. 'As a result, it is important for travellers to be informed about the legal framework and social customs governing sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics in the destination country.' 8:34 Hunter Schafer 'shocked' her passport gender changed after Trump order Reimer said that the CBSA itself recognizes that individuals may self-identify with a gender identity other than male or female. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Canadians first got the option to pick an 'X' gender marker on their Nexus passes in 2022. Between implementation in 2022 and March 2025, about 550 Nexus applications were submitted with 'X' as the gender identifier. Story continues below advertisement Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, said removing the 'X' gender marker option from Nexus travel cards is 'a step backward for the recognition and inclusion of trans, non-binary, and gender diverse people.' 'While this policy stems from a U.S. executive order, its impact is felt on both sides of the border — forcing individuals to misidentify themselves in order to travel,' Kennedy said. 'Canada must uphold its commitment to gender inclusion and human rights by working with U.S. counterparts to find solutions that do not erase the identities of 2SLGBTQI people.' Sarah Mikhail, an associate lawyer at Smith Immigration Law, said the change is a 'manifestation' of how the Trump administration's policy will affect trans and non-binary individuals outside the United States. 'What we are seeing right now is a policy that is at odds with our own policy and inconsistent and incompatible with it,' she said, adding that it's too early to tell how Canada's passport policy could be affected. Mikhail said the restriction is 'distressing and troubling' for the trans and non-binary community. 2:00 Trump's executive order on gender identity worries some Canadians She said trans and non-binary travellers may still face difficulties at the border if their passports don't match the gender selected on their Nexus card. Story continues below advertisement 'I think the border can be a really stressful place and a really sometimes unknown environment for a lot of people. And going in knowing that there's this discrepancy and this is something that could possibly elicit questioning from an officer, and have to be looked at further, I think would be an incredibly, not just stressful experience, but invasive,' she said. The Government of Canada's travel health and safety web page says that people who have a Canadian passport with an 'X' gender marker might face entry restrictions in countries that don't recognize their gender. It says that people may be asked to provide binary sex information when travelling — even if their Canadian passport indicates an 'X' gender marker.
