New York Times reporter Eric Lipton, a four-time Pulitzer Prize winner, recently detailed findings from his investigations into the financial activities of President Donald Trump and his family during the first year of his second term. According to Lipton's reporting, the president earned an estimated $2.2 billion last year. The investigations focus on business deals involving the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and their interactions with sectors regulated by the administration, including mining and cryptocurrency.
A significant portion of Lipton's recent reporting concerns the acquisition and retrofitting of a new Air Force One. According to the investigation, the Qatari government donated a luxury plane to the U.S. at President Trump's request. Lipton reported that the administration spent nearly $1 billion on retrofitting the aircraft to meet security standards and to complete the project by July 2026. The reporter stated that some security measures, such as electromagnetic pulse shielding and specific emergency exits, were compromised or omitted to meet a tight deadline.
The investigation also identified business deals in Kazakhstan involving the mining of tungsten, a metal used in military equipment. Lipton reported that while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and President Trump negotiated for an American company, Kaz Resources, to access a large tungsten deposit, the president’s sons were invested in the deal through limited liability corporations. Additionally, the reporter found that a business partner in the mining deal sought capital from Lutnick’s sons while the Commerce Secretary was advocating for the company.
The day-to-day impact for citizens may be felt in how taxpayer funds are allocated. According to the report, the Air Force One project involved nearly $1 billion in spending, including the purchase of an additional Lufthansa 747-8 solely for pilot training because the new plane's cockpit differed from the existing fleet. This represents a per-household cost that critics argue could have been avoided by adhering to standard procurement timelines. Furthermore, the report notes that the retrofitted plane currently lacks the full security suite required for a "flying Oval Office," potentially requiring more tax-funded modifications later this year to reach modern safety standards.
The situation also sets a precedent regarding the legal protections for journalists. In July 2026, the Justice Department (DOJ) subpoenaed Lipton and other reporters for their sources on the Air Force One story. The New York Times successfully moved to quash these subpoenas, and the DOJ subsequently withdrew them. This outcome reinforces the right of the press to protect confidential sources in investigations of government activity. Moving forward, the retrofitted plane is expected to be taken out of service later in 2026 for additional security upgrades. The tungsten mining company, Kaz Resources, became publicly traded on the NASDAQ in April 2026, which may lead to further public disclosures of its investor structure.