Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks with reporters after the Senate Armed Services Committee concludes a briefing on the Iran war at the Capitol Visitor Center on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call Inc. | Getty Images
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday shared exclusively with CNBC that the Pentagon has no plans to prevent President Donald Trump’s family from benefiting from big-ticket defense contracts.
The letter was filed after the Pentagon sent Warren a response to a January inquiry sent to the department by the Massachusetts Democratic Party seeking answers about the Pentagon’s contracts with President Trump’s children. CNBC also reviewed the Pentagon’s response, which had not previously been reported, and said Warren did not respond to questions about possible involvement of the Trump family in Pentagon contract decisions.
“The majority of the questions we asked regarding the Department of Defense’s decision-making process regarding the contracts and loan guarantees referenced in the January 22, 2026 letter were not answered,” Warren wrote about the Pentagon’s response in a new letter co-signed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D). “It also suggests that the Pentagon does not appear to have an effective process in place to ensure that Pentagon contracts are fairly awarded to companies based on national security and defense requirements rather than the financial interests of the president’s family.”
In its initial response to Warren, the Pentagon said the agency is “committed to upholding the highest ethical standards and ensuring that its investment decisions are free of conflicts of interest involving Department of the Army (DoW) personnel.”
“Additionally, the Department goes beyond minimum regulatory review requirements by requiring DoW supervisory authorities to conduct additional review to identify potential connections between a filer’s official duties and the interests listed on the financial disclosure form,” the letter written by Assistant Secretary of Defense Dane Hughes said.
Hughes’ letter does not specifically mention Trump’s children or detail how the department handles specific contracts that benefit them. In her first letter, Warren asked a number of questions about the relationship between Pentagon officials and Donald Trump Jr.
“This response demonstrates that the Pentagon is unaware of, and thus unable to address, the potential for corruption created by the Trump family’s investments in companies that stand to benefit economically from taxpayer-funded contracts with the Department of Defense,” Warren said. “In these cases, the underlying corruption mechanisms have nothing to do with the financial investments of Department of Defense contract employees. As we detailed in our January letter, the mechanisms involve inside information and influence by the president or his family over Department of Defense policies and programs, and potential political favoritism by Pentagon officials seeking to benefit from the president or his family.”
Warren’s concerns about the Pentagon’s contracts with Trump Jr. affiliates come amid a number of controversies surrounding the first family’s business ties. Democratic lawmakers, including Warren, have repeatedly warned that the expansion of Trump’s children’s business portfolio risks spreading corrupt influence into the government run by the elder Trump.
The scrutiny has only increased since Trump Jr. and his brother Eric Trump helped the drone company Powers win a Pentagon contract. The Pentagon is spending about $1 billion on efforts to boost domestic drone production.
“Restoring U.S. supply chains is critical to national security, and the administration’s war on Iran reveals how important drones have become as battlefield weapons,” Warren wrote. “However, the circumstances surrounding this new merger and the involvement of the president’s children cast a cloud of corruption and conflicts of interest over any Department of Defense contracts this company may receive.”
When CNBC asked about Warren’s new letter, a Pentagon spokesperson said only, “As with all Congressional communications, we will respond in writing to senators.”
