US Drone Firm Powerus Secures Pakistan Army Deal Ahead of Trump-Linked Merger

Islamabad/Washington American drone manufacturer Powerus has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistan Army, including an initial order for drone-related systems, the company confirmed this week a deal that arrives just weeks before Powerus completes a merger with a Nasdaq-listed company partly owned by an investment fund tied to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

Powerus co-founder Brett Velicovich told Reuters the agreement was signed Wednesday but declined to disclose further details, citing security and confidentiality concerns. He said the deal falls within the category of unmanned aerial systems. "The goal would be a joint technology relationship, pairing best-in-breed technology from the US with best-in-breed technology from Pakistan," Velicovich said.

Military meeting confirmed, deal details unclear

Pakistan's military, through Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), confirmed that a Powerus delegation led by Velicovich met Chief of Defence Forces and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. The two sides discussed defence procurement, production, and long-term capacity building, according to the ISPR statement.

Notably, Pakistan's official statement did not mention the MoU or any specific order a gap between the two sides' public accounts that has not been explained.

Powerus, formally Autonomous Power Corporation, builds aerial and maritime drones for military and industrial use. Its subsidiaries, Kaizen Aerospace, Tandem Defense, and Agile Autonomy, cover heavy-lift unmanned aircraft capable of carrying payloads over 500 pounds, tactical defense platforms, and maritime surveillance systems.

The merger connection

The Pakistan deal comes as Powerus prepares to merge with Aureus Greenway Holdings (Nasdaq: AGH), a Florida-based company that until recently operated golf courses, including Kissimmee Bay Country Club and Remington Golf Club near Orlando.

Under a definitive merger agreement announced in March, the combined company will operate under the Powerus name. Both companies say they expect the deal to close in early October. US Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump hold a stake in Aureus Greenway through an investment vehicle called American Ventures. After the merger, American Ventures is expected to hold a 9.9% beneficial ownership stake in the combined company, according to those filings.

Dominari Holdings president Kyle Wool, another investor in the deal, said in a statement announcing the merger: "We believe strongly in the critical importance of building this technology here in America... American Ventures and I personally have been early and substantial investors in this transaction because we believe in strengthening the nation."

Powerus executives have said the Trump brothers' involvement is limited to their investment stake and does not extend to day-to-day operations. Reuters reported that company executives said the brothers had no role in business operations or contract negotiations.

Part of a broader pattern

This is not the Trump sons' first move into the drone sector. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. also hold investments connected to a separate $1.5 billion deal last month between Israeli drone maker XTEND and Florida-based JFB Construction, according to reporting on their expanding portfolio of drone and defense holdings.

Financial analysts have noted that Aureus Greenway's stock has risen sharply on anticipation of the Powerus merger, up 48% year-to-date and roughly 555% over the past 52 weeks as of mid-March, even though the company's legacy golf business remains small, reporting about $340,000 in sales and a net loss of roughly $2.53 million for the period ending September 2025. The valuation gain reflects investor interest in the pending drone-sector pivot rather than the underlying golf operations.

Why it's drawing scrutiny

The deal's visibility stems less from its military content, which remains largely undisclosed, and more from its timing: a foreign defence agreement involving a company about to be partly owned by an investment fund linked to the sitting US president's sons.

Whether an investment-only stake, without operational involvement, should raise conflict-of-interest concerns is a matter of ongoing public debate rather than settled fact. Critics argue that financial ties of any kind between a president's family and companies securing foreign government contracts warrant scrutiny; supporters of the arrangement point to the executives' statements that the Trump brothers play no role in deal-making or operations.

Neither Powerus nor the Trump family has publicly addressed questions about the discrepancy between the company's and Pakistan military's accounts of the MoU, or provided a timeline for when further details of the drone order might be disclosed.