Eric Trump Joins Israeli Drone Firm Marketing “Low Cost Per Kill” Tech

In May 2024, Tel Aviv-based drone manufacturer Xtend secured $40 million in Series B funding led by Chartered Group. Documents confirm that Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, joined the company’s board of directors as part of the deal to oversee U.S. expansion. Xtend specializes in the 'Wolverine,' a small, AI-augmented drone that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) currently uses for tunnel warfare and urban surveillance in Gaza. While mainstream business outlets focused on the $40 million raise, the company’s internal metrics reveal a more clinical objective: achieving a 'low cost per kill' through autonomous attrition.

The financial loop is direct. The U.S. government provides billions in annual military aid to Israel, which is then used to procure hardware from Israeli defense contractors like Xtend. By taking a seat on the board, Eric Trump is positioned to profit from the increased valuation of a company whose primary product is being 'battle-tested' using American taxpayer dollars. Success in current regional conflicts is explicitly used as a case study for Xtend’s ongoing bid to secure contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense for its 'XOS' operating system.

This appointment bypasses traditional lobbying transparency. While registered lobbyists must disclose their activities, a family member of a presidential candidate serving on a private defense board creates a silent conduit for policy influence. Donald Trump has consistently messaged a policy of 'total support' for the military operations that serve as Xtend’s primary revenue driver. The family is no longer just commenting on foreign policy; they are now equity holders in the hardware that executes it.

The technical shift at Xtend focuses on a 'Human-Machine Interface' (HMI) that reduces the need for specialized pilot training. This tech allows minimally skilled operators to conduct complex lethal maneuvers, effectively lowering the barrier to entry for armed conflict. By framing killing as a 'low cost' financial KPI, Xtend and its investors are positioning autonomous warfare as a scalable, Silicon Valley-style software solution.

For the American public, this represents a double extraction. Tax dollars fund the foreign aid that buys the drones, while the profit from those sales flows into the private accounts of the political elite. When the cost of human life is reduced to a line item in a Series B pitch deck, the incentive for peace is replaced by the incentive for high-margin attrition.