Donald Trump Jr. is backing what critics have dubbed the “steroid Olympics” – a competitive sporting event that encourages the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The Enhanced Games revealed on Thursday that Don Jr.’s venture firm 1789 Capital will co-lead a multi-million-dollar investment round for the controversial group.
The fundraising round could raise double digit millions of dollars for the project, a source close to the matter told the Financial Times. The exact figure was unclear.
The goal of the games is to break major sporting records by allowing athletes to dope up with almost any legally available performance-enhancing drugs, while paying them handsomely for their participation.
“The Enhanced Games represent the future – real competition, real freedom, and real records being smashed,” Trump Jr. said in a statement. “This is about excellence, innovation, and American dominance on the world stage – something the MAGA movement is all about.”
Trump Jr.’s partnership with the games – which former president Biden condemned last year – aligns with his father’s contentious shake-up of government drug and health policies.
On Thursday, the Senate confirmed divisive vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services.
Though he has campaigned with his father, Trump Jr. does not have an official White House position.
The Enhanced Games have already found backers in crypto investor Balaji Srinivasan and Christian Angermayer, a German billionaire with investments in biotech and psychedelics.
Peter Thiel, venture capitalist billionaire and co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, is another investor with ties to the White House.
Thiel faced controversy after he funded the takedown of gossip news site Gawker, bankrolling wrestler Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against the media company over his leaked sex tape.
The litigation was led by Australian businessman Aron D’Souza, now the president of the Enhanced Games.
“With these powerhouse investors, we’re building something revolutionary – sports without hypocrisy, where the best can actually be the best,” D’Souza said in a statement.
The games would be partially funded by advertising from pharmaceutical companies, D’Souza told the FT.
The Enhanced Games have not yet announced a city or date for its first competition, which will include athletics, swimming and “strength” events.
The group is aiming to host the first games in late 2025 or early 2026, according to its website.
Just one athlete, retired Australian Olympic swimmer James Magnussen, has signed up for the games after the group offered to pay him $1.5 million if he can shatter the 50 meter freestyle record.
“If they put up $1m for the 50 freestyle world record, I will come on board as their first athlete,” he told a sports podcast earlier this year.
“I’ll juice to the gills and I’ll break it in six months,” he added.
The World Anti-Doping Association and the International Olympic Committee have spoken out against the games, calling them irresponsible.
On its website, the Enhanced Games claim “safer sports” is one of its main priorities, promising to administer medical screenings to athletes ahead of sporting events.
