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Trump Adviser Erik Prince in Talks to Buy Ukrainian Aerospace Firm That U.S. Wants to Keep From China: WSJ

The Trump administration has been reportedly trying to find a way to disrupt Motor Sich’s pending sale to Chinese companies.

Erik Prince—the controversial informal adviser to President Trump—is in talks to buy a Ukrainian aerospace company that the U.S. is trying to prevent China from buying, The Wall Street Journal reports. Prince is the billionaire founder of the defense contractor formerly known as Blackwater. The Journal reports the Trump administration approached him about the Motor Sich company, and Prince has since discussed the company with Ukrainian officials and visited its plant. Motor Sich makes helicopter and airplane engines and the U.S. reportedly wants to disrupt its pending sale to Chinese companies. When asked about the potential purchase, a spokesman for Prince’s Frontier Services reportedly confirmed he is “looking to invest in” Ukraine. Prince is the brother of Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and, in April, was referred for criminal prosecution over allegations that he misled Congress when describing a meeting with the chief executive of Russia’s sovereign-wealth fund.