Shares of Aureus Greenway Holdings (NASDAQ: AUGS) surged roughly 55% after the Wall Street Journalreported that the company will merge with Powerus, a drone manufacturer backed by the sons of President Trump.
According to the report, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. support Powerus through their investment vehicle American Ventures. The deal will take place through a reverse merger, allowing Powerus to become publicly traded on the Nasdaq in the coming months.
Powerus, a West Palm Beach, Florida-based drone company founded last year, has expanded rapidly, acquiring three companies in the past six months.
The three companies Powerus acquired in the past six months are:
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Kaizen Aerospace, Inc. – focuses on heavy-lift unmanned aerial systems (UAS) capable of carrying payloads of 500+ pounds.
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Tandem Defense LLC – develops tactical drone platforms designed for military and defense applications.
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Agile Autonomy LLC – specializes in autonomous navigation and drone software systems, including maritime surveillance technology.
In short, the acquisitions give Powerus capabilities across:
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Heavy-lift drone manufacturing
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Military and tactical drone platforms
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Autonomous flight and maritime drone technology
The strategy appears to be building a vertically integrated U.S. drone manufacturer capable of scaling production toward its stated goal of more than 10,000 drones per month,a level that would exceed the output of most U.S. drone manufacturers.
Investors in the transaction include American Ventures, Unusual Machines—where Donald Trump Jr. is a shareholder and advisory board member—and the Korea Corporate Governance Improvement Fund, which invested $50 million. Trump-backed investment bank Dominari Securities is also involved in the deal.
The merger comes as the Pentagon ramps up its “Drone Dominance” initiative, which aims to spend $1.1 billion to procure hundreds of thousands of U.S.-made drone systems by 2027. Recent U.S. restrictions on Chinese drone imports are also creating new opportunities for domestic manufacturers.
Powerus CEO Andrew Fox said the reverse merger will provide access to public capital markets to support manufacturing expansion and additional acquisitions.
Aureus Greenway currently operates as a holding company for golf courses in Florida.
Kaizen Aerospace appears to be a small, niche drone manufacturer with roughly 11–50 employees, focused on custom heavy-lift drone platforms rather than large-scale production, and it has not publicly disclosed unit sales figures.
Tandem Defense is the military drone systems arm of Powerus, focused on tactical reconnaissance, strike drones, and autonomous swarm platforms for defense applications.
Agile Autonomy provides the autonomy software and maritime systems capability within the Powerus ecosystem, enabling drones and unmanned vessels to operate together in multi-domain defense and surveillance missions.
How ever did they know? Incredible.
Remember when Ivanka Trump released her fashion brand and the scrutiny it received when her father, Donald Trump, became president?
Key points of the story
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Ivanka Trump ran the Ivanka Trump brand, which sold clothing, shoes, handbags, and jewelry through major retailers such as Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Amazon.
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After the 2016 United States presidential election, critics raised ethics concerns, arguing that her position as the daughter of the president could create conflicts between business and government influence.
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Some retailers dropped the brand in 2017, including Nordstrom, citing declining sales (though the move became politically controversial).
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Around the same time, Kellyanne Conway told viewers during a TV interview to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff,” which led to a formal ethics complaint because federal officials are generally prohibited from endorsing private products.
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In 2018, Ivanka announced she was shutting down the Ivanka Trump brand to focus on her role as a White House adviser.
Bottom line
The issue became a high-profile ethics debate about whether family members of a sitting president should run commercial businesses that could benefit from political visibility.
PS You can get the same hat the Pres. wears golfing and at official events at his website for only $55.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.
