Indian Targeted By Trump Poured Money Into Don Jr.-Backed Startup

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In response to detailed questions, a spokesperson for America First Refining said,“The claims in this story are false,” but declined to specify what this charge referred to. The company's CEO previously denied wrongdoing in the lawsuits against him reviewed by ProPublica, and the suits were either settled or dropped.

The Ambani family had long been cultivating its relationship with the Trumps. Reliance paid $10 million to the Trump Organization in 2024 as a“development fee” for a project in Mumbai, according to the president's financial disclosure. (Despite the payment, Reliance has not yet announced a Trump project. Reliance told ProPublica that“the real estate project is real” and“remains under development.”)

Ivanka Trump attended Anant Ambani's wedding party in India that year, where guests were treated to a Rihanna concert. Anant's father, Mukesh - who is worth an estimated $90 billion and lives in a 27-story home - came to Washington, D.C., for Trump's second inauguration, posing with the president at a private reception.

But by the summer of 2025, the family was under attack from the White House. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Reliance had reportedly made billions in profits by purchasing vast quantities of Russian oil at a discount.

In August, as Trump grew frustrated with his administration's struggles to bring the war to an end, the president doubled his tariffs on India to 50%. The move was explicitly designed to force companies like Reliance to stop buying Russian oil. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro publicly assailed“India's politically connected energy titans” for“funding Putin's war machine,” widely read as a reference to the Ambanis.

Amid this tension, Trump Jr. visited Anant Ambani on his November trip to India. At the end of the trip, Trump Jr.'s personal lawyer commented at a business conference in Miami:“I had a nice closing this morning with Don Trump Jr., who's flying back from India today.” (The following week, the Texas startup - then called Element Fuels - filed paperwork to create America First Refining LLC. In an email, the attorney, John Willding, told ProPublica that there was“no transaction in India or with an Indian company that I was ever involved with.”)

Anant Ambani, who helps run Reliance's energy business, personally worked on the Texas refinery deal for months before it was announced, a major Indian newspaper later reported.

As the Ambanis quietly finalized their deal with America First Refining, US-Indian relations appeared to warm. In February, the Trump administration struck a trade deal with India, dramatically lowering tariffs, and also reportedly gave Reliance a license to buy Venezuelan oil. When the Iran war broke out and rocked global energy markets, the US gave India a sanctions waiver to buy Russian crude. (The waiver was later expanded to all countries.)

In response to ProPublica's questions, the White House said that“there are no conflicts of interest.” Reliance did not answer ProPublica's questions about Trump Jr.'s and Anant Ambani's roles in the investment deal, but said in a statement that the company did not receive“any unique or preferential treatment” from the US government.

“There is no connection between Reliance's investment in AFR and any unique measures associated with general US trade, tariff, sanctions or licensing outcomes,” Reliance said.“The investment was evaluated and approved on its commercial merits, strategic fit and long-term value creation potential.”

In March, President Trump personally announced Reliance's deal with the Texas startup on Truth Social, thanking the Ambani company for its“tremendous Investment.”

After the announcement, Willding, the Trump Jr. lawyer, shared the news on LinkedIn:“Just so proud to have been part of this one.”

Willding rowed back his claim in an email to ProPublica.“I have never worked for or advised AFR and had zero involvement in their deal with Reliance Energy,” he said.“I simply saw the press release and was excited for them.” America First Refining's spokesperson called Willding's comment“moronic and false.”

In June 2025, Willding registered a new entity in Wyoming called TX Fuels, LLC, listing the company's address as Trump Jr.'s mansion in Jupiter, Florida. In his email, Willding said his“only involvement in AFR was handling the legal paperwork” for the Trump Jr. LLC's investment in the startup.

Trump Jr. first hired Willding in May 2021, according tointerviews the lawyer has given. A corporate deal lawyer in Dallas, Willding has referred to himself as“outside business counsel to the Trump family” and has said he talks to Trump Jr. or Eric Trump almost daily. A former Bill Clinton and Barack Obama voter who fell hard for MAGA, the attorney has installed a portrait of President Trump over the mantel in his living room.

Willding's practice has boomed during the second Trump administration, bringing the lawyer to Argentina, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.“Everybody in the world wants to do business with the United States right now,” Willding said at a conference in June 2025.“Every company wants to do business with the Trump family.”

There are other fingerprints of the Trump world on the refinery deal.

Howard Lutnick's firm Cantor Fitzgerald - which his sons took over when Lutnick became Trump's commerce secretary - is working as the financial adviser to America First Refining, including on the Ambani investment deal, Cantor Fitzgerald announced. (Cantor Fitzgerald declined to comment.)

And the Trump administration played a direct role helping America First Refining find potential foreign investors, according to public comments from the company's CEO, John Calce.“We have received support from the White House,” he told a local news outlet. The National Energy Dominance Council, led by the interior and energy secretaries, has“helped us with, candidly, introducing us and helping us meet some of these people overseas,” Calce said on an industry podcast.

America First Refining has recently explored going public, according to three people close to the company. That could allow its current investors to start cashing out even if the refinery never gets built - a milestone many energy industry insiders still view as a long shot. Reliance made its investment in the startup at a valuation of at least $1 billion, according to America First Refining's announcement.

Building a refinery at the Port of Brownsville on the Gulf Coast has been Calce's mission for a decade. A former Yale offensive lineman, he started his career as a high school football coach after an unsuccessful attempt to make the NFL and now describes himself as a“lifelong entrepreneur.”