A company that hired Donald Trump’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Junior, as advisers, has revised its public document to remove a line which showed it aims for government incentives, according to an AP report. The development has reignited the “conflict of interest” debate that has raged in the US since Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential elections.

Document revised: What happened?

As per the AP report, a public document filed by New America suggested (till August 4) that the company hoped to get benefits, grants and other incentives from the federal government — which is led by Donald Trump, father of their advisors Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Both sons hold “founder shares” worth millions of dollars in New America Acquisition 1 Corp. However, when AP reached out to the Trump family business office about the likely conflict of interest issue, the document was revised and the line taken out, it said. 

According to the AP, the original version of the securities filing said the target company should be “well positioned” to tap federal or state government incentives. But this part was revised when asked about.

What has the company said?

The Trump Organisation did not reply to a question about whether New America still planned to benefit from government programmes or why the line was cut, AP reported.

However, Paul Hastings, the outside law firm that helped prepare the document replied to AP saying the line was a “mistake” made by “scriveners”. Scriveners are transcribers of legal papers.

Why has this raised eyebrows?

In the filing, the company claims it wants to play “a meaningful role in revitalising domestic manufacturing”. Notably, Donald Trump has gone all-out imposing tariffs on imports into the US and pushed trade policy for local manufacturing.

Kathleen Clark, law professor at Washington University, a government ethics expert and Donald Trump critic, told the news agency that “excuses are too late” as the unrevised document “already tipped their hand”. 

“They just deleted the language. They have not committed not to do what they said earlier today they were planning to do. It is an attempt to exploit public office for private profit,” she added.

About New America: What we know

New America is what is known as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. It is a publicly-traded company that exists solely to use its funds to acquire another company and take the target public.

New America plans to raise money by selling new stock on the New York Stock Exchange at USD 10 a share. That will hand the two Trump sons a potential total of USD 50 million in paper wealth the moment the stock begins trading on the first day. The company hopes to sell enough shares to raise USD 300 million, which it then plans to use buying a yet unidentified manufacturer.

A press release issued by New America said it was focussed on “American values and priorities”. It made no mention of the aim to get government incentives.

The filing to New America’s potential new investors to the Securities and Exchange Commission was explicit about what it was looking for in a target company. It said, among other things, it wanted a company that can ride “public policy tailwinds” by benefitting from federal or state “grants, tax credits, government contracts or preferential procurement programmes”.