A shell company backed by Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump will merge with a critical minerals group, Kaz Resources, that last year secured up to $1.6bn in US government support to mine tungsten in Kazakhstan. Kaz had received “direct assistance from president Trump, Marco Rubio and Howard Lutnick” to secure the mine in Kazakhstan. The Trump family last year netted more than $1bn in pre-tax profits from their various crypto projects and continue to pile into AI, drones and critical minerals companies that have won lucrative US government contracts.