An investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates quietly acquired nearly half of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency company last year, binding the business interests of President Donald Trump’s family to a foreign government at the same time that the administration was negotiating sensitive national security and foreign policy matters with Abu Dhabi. The transaction, first reported by The Wall Street Journal and later confirmed to The New York Times, has reignited concerns about the blurring of public power and private profit at the highest levels of U.S. government.
The deal was signed just days before Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025. According to the Journal and confirmed by a spokesperson speaking to the New York Times, Eric Trump, the president’s middle son, finalized a $500 million investment agreement with an Emirati-backed firm for a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto venture. As part of the agreement, two senior aides to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s powerful national security adviser, took seats on World Liberty’s board.
David Wachsman, a spokesperson for World Liberty, confirmed the investment and board appointments in a statement to the Times, saying the company entered the deal because it believed it was “what was best for our company as we continue to grow.” Representatives for Sheikh Tahnoon did not respond to requests for comment. Ethics experts and Democratic lawmakers, however, say the timing and scale of the investment are troubling, given Sheikh Tahnoon’s central role in Emirati foreign policy and intelligence matters.
Sheikh Tahnoon is a member of the UAE’s royal family and has served for more than a decade as a key intermediary with Washington on issues ranging from counterterrorism to advanced technology cooperation. He also oversees a vast investment empire, including G42, a technology firm that has emerged as a major player in artificial intelligence. His proximity to both U.S. security officials and the Trump family’s business ventures has intensified scrutiny of the World Liberty deal.
The investment was not an isolated transaction. At a cryptocurrency conference in Dubai last May, World Liberty executives disclosed that MGX, another firm run by Sheikh Tahnoon, had deployed $2 billion worth of World Liberty’s digital currency to make a major investment. That currency is a stablecoin, designed to maintain a constant value of $1. The move instantly elevated World Liberty into the ranks of the world’s largest stablecoin issuers and positioned the company to generate tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue.
Donald Trump, through an entity called DT Marks DEFI, effectively controls a significant stake in World Liberty. According to his financial disclosure report last year, the company generated $57 million for him during its initial phase. Revenues are also shared with other partners, including Zach Witkoff, the son of Steve Witkoff, who serves as Trump’s Middle East envoy. Altogether, the Trump family’s crypto ventures have boosted its net worth by more than $1 billion over the past year, at least on paper.
As the New York Times has reported, these business dealings unfolded alongside crucial diplomatic negotiations. During the same period that World Liberty was finalizing its Emirati partnerships, the Trump administration approved an agreement allowing the export of hundreds of thousands of advanced U.S.-made computer chips to the UAE. Those chips are essential for powering artificial intelligence systems, and some national security officials warned they could ultimately be shared with China, potentially strengthening Beijing’s military capabilities.
An investigation by the Times last year found that the chip negotiations intersected in significant ways with World Liberty’s business activities. Several of the same individuals were involved in both efforts, and at one point a G42 employee simultaneously held a position at World Liberty while working for the Emirati firm. The Times found no evidence that the chip exports were explicitly offered in exchange for the crypto investment, or vice versa, but the overlap was enough to spark outrage among congressional Democrats.
Those concerns prompted calls for formal investigations. The State Department’s inspector general confirmed in December that it was conducting a review of the matter, a standard preliminary step that could lead to a deeper inquiry. The Commerce Department, which oversees chip exports, declined to comment on the status of its own review when asked on Sunday.
World Liberty and the White House have vigorously denied any impropriety. Wachsman said in his statement that “any claim that this deal had anything to do with the administration’s actions on chips is 100% false,” arguing that holding a privately owned American company to a higher standard than its peers was “ridiculous and un-American.” The White House echoed that defense.
“The president has no involvement in business deals that would implicate his constitutional responsibilities,” David Warrington, the White House counsel, said in a statement to the New York Times. He added that Trump performs his duties “in an ethically sound manner” and dismissed suggestions of conflicts of interest as either ill-informed or malicious. Warrington also said that Steve Witkoff, as Middle East envoy, does not participate in official matters that could affect his financial interests.
Still, the optics have proven difficult to dispel. The White House acknowledged last year to the Times that Witkoff had been briefed on major policy decisions in the region, even as it disputed claims that he took part in meetings where the UAE chip deal was discussed. Critics argue that such overlaps underscore the need for clearer separation between public office and private enterprise.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has been among the most vocal critics. She said the revelations showed that the Trump family and its partners had “sold out American national security” to enrich the president’s crypto business. On Sunday, she called for the immediate termination of the chip export agreement and demanded that White House officials testify before Congress.
“This is corruption, plain and simple,” Warren said in a statement. “Congress needs to grow a spine and put a stop to Trump’s crypto corruption.” Other Democrats have echoed her concerns, warning that the convergence of cryptocurrency, foreign investment and national security policy presents unprecedented risks.
As digital assets gain political and economic prominence, the World Liberty episode highlights the challenges of regulating an industry that straddles private innovation and public power. For critics, the deal illustrates how emerging technologies can become vehicles for influence at the highest levels of government. For the administration, it is another flashpoint in an ongoing battle over ethics, transparency and trust. With investigations pending and political pressure mounting, the intersection of Trump’s crypto empire and U.S. foreign policy is unlikely to fade from scrutiny anytime soon.
