Elizabeth Warren Suspects Pilgrim's Pride Tried To 'Curry Favor' With $5M Trump Donation As Controversial Brazilian Owner Eyes NYSE Listing

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has raised red flags over a donation linked to Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) and its parent company, Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS S.A. (JBSAY), made to a pro-Trump political group during the president's 2025 inauguration. 

“Pilgrim's Pride was the single largest donor to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee,” Warren wrote in a letter to Pilgrim's Pride CEO, Fabio Sandri and JBS USA head Wesley Batista Filho.

“Its $5 million donation amounts to more than the contributions from Apple's CEO plus Amazon, Meta, and Google, combined.”

Warren wrote that she was “concerned” Pilgrim’s Pride may have contributed to the inaugural fund to “curry favor” with the Trump administration. 

Warren highlighted ongoing legal challenges facing Pilgrim’s Pride and its parent company, JBS, including multiple antitrust and price-fixing allegations. 

She also pointed out that the company is currently under two separate Department of Justice civil investigations into antitrust practices in human resources and its grower contracts and payment systems. 

The DOJ has indicated it may file a civil complaint based on these probes.

The senator's inquiry comes as JBS pushes forward with plans to list its U.S. operations on the New York Stock Exchange, a move that has reignited controversy given the company's checkered past.

JBS, one of the world's largest meat producers, has long been embroiled in corruption scandals in Brazil, including a sweeping bribery case that implicated hundreds of politicians and business leaders. 

Warren’s letter follows JBS's recent financial results, which showed a 78% surge in first-quarter profit to $521 million. Thanks to its diversified production base, the company dismissed the global tariff war as “insignificant.”

While Wall Street has broadly welcomed the company's bid to go public in the U.S., environmental and consumer watchdogs have expressed alarm. 

Critics argue that allowing JBS to list on the NYSE rewards a company with a troubling record of labor, environmental, and governance issues.

On Stocktwits, sentiment for Pilgrim’s Pride has tipped into ‘bearish’ levels from ‘bullish’ six months ago, while message volume has also declined.

Meanwhile, retail investors have stayed ‘neutral’ over the same period on JBS S.A., which currently trades over the counter in the U.S.

Year to date, PPC shares have gained over 20% and JBSAY stock has jumped over 30%.

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