The Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, sold a 49% stake for $500 million to representatives tied to Emirati royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, The Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper said as much as $187 million from the investment flowed to Trump family entities.
The World Liberty Financial deal was signed by Eric Trump and split into two installments, according to WSJ.
The first $250M was paid up front, steering $187M to Trump family entities and $31M to entities tied to the family of Steve Witkoff, who was just named U.S. envoy to the Middle East.
The timing of this event is now subject to renewed criticism, particularly after the administration moved to expand access to advanced U.S. AI chips to Gulf countries, a move that sparked concerns on Capitol Hill that U.S. rivals could gain access to these advanced chips. In a statement, Senate Democrats noted that these deals with the UAE and Saudi Arabia lacked credible security assurances, which presented a risk to U.S. national security.
Long-standing U.S. concerns about chip diversion have focused on the potential for these chips to be used to power advanced AI systems that could be used for military or surveillance purposes. The Biden administration had previously tightened controls on these chips under a broader framework intended to limit access to these chips by U.S. rivals, with the Trump administration then seeking to roll back some of these controls, according to Reuters and a Commerce Department report.
The cryptocurrency business, named World Liberty Financial, which was founded in 2024 and is related to Trump’s sons and ally Steve Witkoff, has denied any wrongdoing, particularly with regard to claims that the investment from the UAE influenced U.S. policy, according to further reporting by the Financial Times
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