The SEC approved the Donald Trump Jr.-backed gun company called GrabAGun’s application to trade publicly less than two months after the new Trump-appointed SEC chair reportedly attended the launch party of a different one of Don Jr.’s businesses.

Don Jr., President Trump’s adult son, launched a new public company earlier this month called GrabAGun, adding to the growing list of companies entangling the Trump family’s political power and personal profit.

The company now trades as PEW on the New York Stock Exchange, after merging with a special purpose acquisition company backed by Omeed Malik, who has donated more than $107,000 to support Donald Trump and to Trump-affiliated joint fundraising committees. Malik is also Don Jr.s’ business partner in his private Georgetown club Executive Branch, which costs up to $500,000 to join and launched in April 2025.

Paul Atkins, the chair of the SEC, reportedly attended the launch party for Executive Branch on April 26, just five days after Atkins took the oath of office. On June 20, the SEC granted a notice of effectiveness for GrabAGun’s S-4, which is a prerequisite for public trading after a merger or acquisition.

GrabAGun has pitched itself as the “Amazon of guns,” hoping to target a Gen Z audience by optimizing for mobile browsers, giving young people “the opportunity to purchase a firearm pretty much anywhere they are.” It has also said it wants to give the platform a “non-regulated look and feel. So you’re just shopping for a widget just like you would on any other e-commerce platform.”

GrabAGun touted its political connections—and acknowledged that the company could trade above “where the fundamentals would suggest it would” partially as a result of a “cult of personality,” drawing a parallel with Elon Musk’s companies. The S-4 notes that “business may be harmed, in particular, if Donald J. Trump Jr. ceases to be involved with GrabAGun or to support our business and publicize our product offerings.”

Evidently, investors were skeptical, and the share price crashed by over 66% over the course of last week, though Don Jr.’s shares were still worth over $2 million when the markets closed on Friday, July 25.

Donald Trump Jr. photo by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license.

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