Nearly 100 company representatives and government officials gathered at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Aug. 20 for the first White House Drone Dominance event, as the Trump administration seeks to expand drone production in the United States. Representatives from roughly 40 companies attended the event, which focused on strengthening domestic manufacturing across the drone sector. Breaking Defense reported that the gathering included industry participants and officials from several federal agencies.
The government speakers included National Security Council Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka, Pentagon Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael, and Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler. Michael framed the event as part of a broader effort to align the government with private industry around expanded drone production.
“The cavalry arrived here to meet your cavalry in private industry to make sure that we are not drone sufficient, from parity, but drone dominant,” Michael told the audience.
The event included morning remarks followed by an opportunity for company participants to speak with representatives of government offices. Tables were staffed by the Defense Department’s Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for autonomy, the Commerce Department, the Small Business Administration, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration.
A White House official said the event focused on expanding all types of domestic drone production. Participating companies included manufacturers of batteries, cameras, thermal sensors and motors, showing that the administration’s approach extends beyond firms that assemble complete aircraft. The range of participants also reflected the number of components and regulatory requirements involved in building a domestic drone supply chain.
The production push comes as companies work to meet Defense Department requirements and Federal Aviation Administration rules while adjusting to a new executive order on critical materials. The order effectively gives companies until the beginning of 2027 to stop using critical materials and minerals from Russia, Iran, North Korea and, most notably, China, according to the report.
Michael also said the Pentagon expected additional investments in the defense-drone sector. He pointed to a recent Office of Strategic Capital conditional loan to Performance Drone Works valued at $820 million as an example of the financing activity underway.
“In the next two weeks, you’ll see more of those deals,” Michael said. “We’re building up capacity in America to ensure the supply chain is resilient and can serve your needs.”
The White House event followed President Donald Trump’s June 2025 executive order on expanding American drone production. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a related directive the following month intended to reduce bureaucratic barriers and accelerate drone production and fielding.
Since then, the Pentagon has established the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for autonomy and outlined nearly $55 billion in planned spending for the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, described as a replacement for the Biden-era Replicator initiative. The Drone Dominance program highlighted at the event is described as a vehicle for spending $1 billion over two years on small attack drones.
The Pentagon is using gauntlet-style competitions to evaluate vendors and place orders. The first competition focused on small, one-way attack drones. According to the program leaderboard cited by Breaking Defense, 11 companies had received deals to provide 24,320 aerial weapons.
A second competition involved 19 companies invited to Fort Carson, Colorado, in August to demonstrate drones equipped with various lethal payloads. The top performers could receive a share of the 60,000 platforms the Pentagon expects to order through that round.
The White House meeting placed the administration’s domestic-production effort alongside its regulatory changes, planned investments and contracting competitions. Together, those initiatives are aimed at expanding the number of companies and suppliers able to produce drones and related components for defense requirements.