Money Grab/Profit from his own market-moving decisions
Don Jr.‘s 1789 Capital invests in Polymarket while he advises rival Kalshi
On August 26, 2025, Polymarket announced an investment from 1789 Capital, the fund where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, and named him to its advisory board. He had been a paid adviser to Kalshi, its main U.S. rival, since January 2025.
What happened
In 2022 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Polymarket and barred it from U.S. customers, and in 2024 it tried to stop Kalshi from offering election contracts. Prediction markets let people bet on real-world events, including elections. For years the regulator treated them with suspicion, and both of the two largest platforms had been on the losing end of it.
In January 2025 Kalshi made Donald Trump Jr. a paid strategic adviser. On August 26, 2025, Polymarket announced that 1789 Capital, the fund where Trump Jr. is a partner, had invested a sum Axios reported as “double-digit millions,” and that Trump Jr. was joining its advisory board too. The size of the stake was not disclosed.
By August 2025 the CFTC under Trump’s appointees had dropped its appeal against Kalshi. Polymarket’s founder said a federal probe of him had been closed, and Polymarket had bought a licensed exchange to come back to the U.S. market. Trump Jr. has since urged state attorneys general to leave the platforms alone, and his father’s media company announced a prediction market of its own.
Who benefited
Trump Jr. is paid by one platform and invested in the other, so he gains whichever wins. Kalshi has had him as a paid adviser since January 2025; Polymarket put him on its advisory board in August. Both companies acquired the president’s son as the industry recovered its U.S. license to operate.
Who wanted something
Kalshi and Polymarket needed the federal regulator to stand down and state regulators to hold off. Polymarket was carrying a 2022 CFTC fine and a ban on U.S. customers; Kalshi was fighting the CFTC’s 2024 attempt to stop its election contracts. One hired the president’s son and the other sold him equity.
Who lost out
States that regulate gambling have tried to stop election betting. They now face a federal regulator that has stepped back and a lobbyist named Trump urging their attorneys general to stand down. Bettors on these markets depend on the integrity of a regulator that has recused itself.
Why it matters
The record’s “call off the regulators” entries have so far been about crypto. Prediction markets follow the same sequence in a new industry: the regulator retreats, the president’s family takes positions on both sides, and the son lobbies the state officials who remain. The president’s own media company has now announced a prediction market too.
Sources PR Newswire (Polymarket release) (primary)AxiosFront Office Sports