Will U.S. Drone Stocks Boom in the Trump 2.0 Era?

As President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration approaches on January 20th (EST), investors are preparing for the Trump 2.0 era.

Looking at Trump and his cabinet, U.S. drone stocks are poised for a boom during the Trump 2.0 era.

The primary difference between drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) lies in whether they are manned. While some eVTOL companies propose starting with cargo transport before moving to passenger transport, carrying passengers is the core purpose of eVTOLs.

Recently, Elon Musk criticized the F-35 fighter jet produced by Lockheed Martin, calling its design "flawed" and "the worst value for money in military equipment history" on social media platform X, where he also posted images of drones. Drones play a significant role in the military, and the U.S. military is investing in various unmanned technologies.

Indeed, compared to traditional fighter jets, both Musk and Trump seem to prefer drones.

According to media reports, President Trump's son, Donald John Trump Jr., has agreed to become an advisor for UnusualMachines. Donald Jr. also stated that the demand for drones is clear.
This year, Musk has expressed his admiration for Chinese drones three times. However, Musk's frequent praise for the drone industry might have some personal motives. It's reported that Musk's brother, Kimbal Musk, is also involved in the drone industry.

Leading U.S. "low-altitude economy" company JobyAviation, leading international eVTOL company ArcherAviation, and top U.S. defense small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) company Red Cat Holdings have seen cumulative increases of 64%, 233%, and 263% respectively since the U.S. election.

Red Cat recently announced a strategic partnership with Palantir to integrate Palantir's visual navigation and artificial intelligence technology into Red Cat's Black Widow drones. This innovation is expected to impact the way modern warfare sUAS is employed significantly. After being selected for the U.S. Army's short-range reconnaissance program, the Black Widow drone will achieve a performance leap by integrating Palantir's VNav software and Warp Speed manufacturing operations system.

The market believes that as a tech pioneer and innovator, Musk has a deep understanding and unique insights into drone technology. He might use his experience and resources from companies like Tesla and SpaceX to push further breakthroughs and innovations in the U.S. Air Force's drone technology, such as enhancing their use in reconnaissance, attack, and electronic warfare to improve combat efficiency.

Also, the global commercial drone market size was estimated at USD 30.02 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.6% from 2025 to 2030. The market growth is attributed to the increasing enterprise application of drones across various industry verticals. Several drone manufacturers continually test, invent, and upgrade solutions for diverse markets used for multiple applications, including filming and emergency response.

Commercial drones' business use cases have expanded significantly over the past few years. They are being increasingly adopted in the construction and real estate sectors due to their ability to survey property, offer constant and exact project alerts, increase safety, and prevent harmful accidents on construction sites.

In addition, on October 22nd, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. It published the full text of the regulation on November 21st. This regulation includes VTOL as a new national airspace management system category. It sets out operational regulations, indicating that the large-scale use of VTOL is a crucial part of the U.S. Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) initiative. This regulation paves the way for commercial operations for U.S. eVTOL companies.

An eVTOL came about owing to major advances in electric propulsion and the emerging need for new aerial vehicles.