Alarm as 'unknown' company with deep Trump links in running for $25B government deal

An 'unknown' nuclear industry company with ties to Trump donors — that has never completed a nuclear energy project — has been under consideration for a $25 billion contract in a trade deal orchestrated between President Donald Trump and Japan, Politico reported Monday.

It's "a prospect that’s raising red flags among some U.S. investors" as the three-year-old company Entra1 Energy — with apparently less than five employees and a headquarters at a Houston WeWork — could be a finalist to develop new energy infrastructure with some of the $550 billion Japan's government promised to steer clear of Trump's tariffs, Politico reported.

"Japan’s pledge has been held up by Trump as an example of how his trade threats are securing foreign investments in strategic sectors, with the U.S. taking a financial stake in the projects — money the White House started rolling out in the past week in other areas," according to Politico.

Entra1 was selected in partnership with NuScale, a nuclear energy company that's worth more than $4 billion and publicly traded, to collaborate on the “supply of large-scale baseload power infrastructure,” the White House said in a press release in October 2025. "The Japanese government said those power projects could include 'power generation (gas-thermal, nuclear) for AI.'”

The Trump administration could be avoiding using taxpayer funding for Trump's investment in nuclear energy for the large payout, Politico reported. The industry has often struggled to meet deadlines and stay within budget.

"It also renews questions about the administration’s oversight of billions of dollars in foreign funds from Japan as well as South Korea, Taiwan and other countries, which Trump’s Commerce Department is looking to funnel to select industries, including those that have struggled to attract private capital," Politico reported.