[9] A Zekelman Industries subsidiary, Wheatland Tube, donated $1.75 million to the America First Action super-PAC to elect Donald Trump, a financial maneuver considered questionable for a foreign citizen.
Zekelman lobbied Trump regarding steel tariffs, the border wall, and trucking regulations.
[11] Barry Zekelman owns a million-dollar cigarette boat named Man of Steel.
[12] The third "Man of Steel" superyacht was an aluminum-hulled 49.8 m (163 ft) Heesen purchased by Zekelman in 2019; it was previously named the Satori and then the Septimus.
[9][2] In October 2021, it was confirmed that Zekelman was the purchaser of Steven Spielberg's former 282 ft yacht Seven Seas, built by Oceanco in 2010, which he renamed Man of Steel.