Donald Trump Jr. Leaves Kalshi, Keeps Polymarket Role a Week After Democrats Win Congress

Donald Trump Jr. no longer advises Kalshi. The prediction market and the president’s eldest son mutually agreed to end the arrangement, according to multiple media reports Thursday, pointing to an investment his venture firm, 1789 Capital, made in Kalshi’s main rival, Polymarket.
“We have mutually agreed to end Don’s advisory role after his firm’s significant investment in a competitor this past summer,” a Kalshi spokesperson reportedly said. “We are grateful for his contributions in helping us market Kalshi to more customers.”
Kalshi did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Unchained.
Kalshi’s move follows last week’s midterm sweep, which handed Democrats both chambers of Congress. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is expected to take control of the Senate Banking Committee in January, has listed Trump family crypto businesses and prediction markets among early oversight targets, an aide told Politico. Democrats have also said they intend to examine the family’s links to Kalshi and Polymarket, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

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Why Kalshi Says It Split
The two sides began discussing a split in August, after 1789 Capital raised its Polymarket stake, the AP reported. Kalshi and Trump Jr. both saw a conflict in his advising Kalshi while his firm invested in Polymarket, a Kalshi spokesperson said, according to CNBC.
Trump Jr.’s 1789 was reported to be leading a $1 billion Polymarket raise with a $300 million contribution in August.
Kalshi had at first allowed Trump Jr. to advise its competitor, but the two sides recently decided the arrangement no longer worked, a person familiar with the matter told the Financial Times (FT).
An Equity Stake, Since Diluted
Kalshi named Trump Jr. a strategic adviser in January 2025, days before his father’s second inauguration. It granted him about $300,000 in equity, a stake since heavily diluted by new share issuance, while Kalshi’s valuation has climbed roughly 20-fold to $40 billion, the FT has reported. Kalshi declined to comment to the FT on the stake’s status.
Trump Jr. still advises Polymarket, CNBC reported; he joined its advisory board in August 2025, when 1789 Capital made its first investment in the platform, according to the FT. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said on the cable news network MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) in early October that Trump Jr.’s ties posed an “optics issue,” CNBC reported, though he said Kalshi had never used them to gain favor with the government.
President Trump has publicly backed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the sole regulator of prediction markets while states challenge the platforms. Kalshi and Polymarket have both rejected any suggestion that their financial links to the Trumps shaped how the Trump administration has regulated the industry.
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