An Indian billionaire paid millions of dollars to Donald Trump Jr. and later won major concessions from the Trump administration.Anant Ambani, 30, is a member of the richest family in India, and his family’s energy business was in the White House’s crosshairs as part of President Trump’s tariffs against India. But when Trump Jr. visited India in November, he met with Ambani and everything changed.Ambani wined and dined Trump Jr., taking him to the family’s private zoo and performing a Gujarati folk dance together. Only four months later, a Texas start-up aiming to build the first major oil refinery in 50 years in the U.S. announced it had received a nine-figure investment from the Ambanis’s company, Reliance Energy. The deal was facilitated by Trump Jr., who secretly bought a stake in the new venture, ProPublica reports.Prior to Trump Jr.’s involvement, the Texas company had failed several times to raise money, missing deadlines and rebranding again and again. Its founder had been repeatedly sued for fraud and had a history of bankruptcy. But with Trump Jr.’s help, America First Refining not only secured funding from Ambani but has also met with investors from foreign countries such as Saudi Arabia.One foreign government official told ProPublica that the company’s team said they were backed by the Trump family, and that an investment would open doors in the White House. That appears to be accurate, with President Trump gleefully posting about America First Refining’s oil refinery project in March.Reliance Energy also paid the Trump Organization $10 million as a “development fee” in 2024, although no project has ever been announced. Ivanka Trump was a guest at Anant Ambani’s lavish wedding that year, and Anant’s father, Mukhesh Ambani (worth close to $90 billion), attended Trump’s second inauguration.In February, the Ambanis’ efforts paid off for all of India, with the country striking a trade deal with the United States. Reliance, meanwhile, got a license to buy Venezuelan oil. After the Iran war, India got an early sanctions waiver to buy Russian crude oil.All of this goes to show that in Trump’s second term, it’s impossible to tell when Trump’s personal business ends and U.S. policy begins. It’s increasingly apparent that cutting deals with and paying money to the Trump family means that you’ll get benefits from the federal government.