Fox News host Laura Ingraham has joined a business venture with Donald Trump Jr, despite repeatedly criticising the business dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden. Ingraham, Trump Jr and Chamath Palihapitiya, a business associate of Trump Jr, are listed as board members of Colombier Acquisition Corp III, a special-purpose acquisition company (Spac) seeking to raise $260m in an initial public offering. The venture aims to 'fund the next chapter of American Exceptionalism and help Make America Grow Again'.
Ingraham, a longtime Fox News star, frequently criticised Hunter Biden on her show, arguing he capitalised on his father's political influence for business deals. Media Matters, a liberal watchdog, estimated she mentioned Hunter Biden in over 150 episodes in 2023 and 2024. In December 2024, after Joe Biden pardoned his son, Ingraham compared the Biden family to the Corleone mob family from The Godfather, saying 'the Corleones have nothing on them'.
The venture highlights growing ties between Fox News and the Trump family. In February, Fox launched a weekend show featuring Lara Trump, Trump's daughter-in-law. The network, which had appeared to distance itself from Trump during Joe Biden's presidency, has now fully embraced his second term.
Trump Jr announced his role at 1789 Capital, an investment firm with close ties to conservative donors, in November 2024. The firm, which has invested in AI, energy, defence and three of Elon Musk's companies, quietly passed $1bn in assets in September. The White House has insisted that Trump and his family have never engaged in conflicts of interest, despite Trump and his eldest sons being found guilty of civil fraud in 2024, though an appeals court later threw out the $355m penalty.
