Trump administration is discussing possible funding deals with U.S. drone companies

Thursday, May 28, 2026U.S. PoliticsWell-covered3 frames

The Trump administration is discussing potential funding deals with U.S. drone companies.
Unusual Machines and Neros are among the companies identified in the reported talks.
The reported goal of the potential deals is to increase domestic drone production and reduce costs.
The discussions have been going on for months and have involved the Pentagon and the Office of Strategic Capital, a lending office created during the Biden administration.
The talks remain in a negotiation and vetting phase, and no final terms have been announced.
Some of the potential arrangements could include both debt and equity financing, which could give the federal government an ownership stake in participating companies.
Unusual Machines' share price jumped sharply after the report, with outlets reporting gains in premarket trading and later in the trading day.
The story has drawn added attention because Unusual Machines counts Donald Trump Jr. as an adviser or advisory board member and shareholder/investor.

How left and right are reading this

Both agree: Public financing for drone makers is being seriously explored to expand domestic production and lower costs, but the talks are still unsettled and the possibility of debt-and-equity deals makes the structure of federal involvement, including ownership, the central shared concern.
They split on: Whether the story is about accountability risks when public money, private gain, and Trump-family ties intersect, or about how to build domestic drone capacity without letting an industrial policy tool become federal ownership.

The Trump administration is discussing potential funding deals with U.S. drone companies.
Unusual Machines and Neros are among the companies identified in the reported talks.
The reported goal of the potential deals is to increase domestic drone production and reduce costs.
The discussions have been going on for months and have involved the Pentagon and the Office of Strategic Capital, a lending office created during the Biden administration.
The talks remain in a negotiation and vetting phase, and no final terms have been announced.
Some of the potential arrangements could include both debt and equity financing, which could give the federal government an ownership stake in participating companies.
Unusual Machines' share price jumped sharply after the report, with outlets reporting gains in premarket trading and later in the trading day.
The story has drawn added attention because Unusual Machines counts Donald Trump Jr. as an adviser or advisory board member and shareholder/investor.