Key Highlights
- A 49% stake in World Liberty Financial was sold for $500 million just days before the inauguration.
- President Donald Trump said he had no knowledge of the deal and that his sons handled the business.
- The investor is an Abu Dhabi royal with diplomatic and business ties to the United States.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has denied having any role in a reported $500 million cryptocurrency deal involving his family and a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, saying he was not aware of the transaction and that his sons were managing the business separately.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he had no direct knowledge of the deal, while acknowledging that cryptocurrency has become a major area of investment.
“I don’t know about it,” Trump said. “I know that crypto is a big thing.”
He added that the business decisions were being handled by his family. “My sons are handling that — my family is handling it. And I guess they get investments from different people.”
What the World Liberty Financial deal is about
The deal centers on World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a cryptocurrency platform closely linked to the Trump family. According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal, emissaries of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, reached an agreement with Eric Trump to purchase a 49% stake in WLFI for $500 million.
The agreement was reportedly finalized four days before Donald Trump was inaugurated as US president last year. The WSJ based its report on internal WLFI documents and comments from people familiar with the matter.
According to Fortune, the investment was not executed directly by Sheikh Tahnoon himself but through two senior lieutenants closely associated with him, both of whom hold leadership roles at G42, an Abu Dhabi-based technology and investment group backed by the royal family. Their involvement further tightens the link between the crypto deal and the UAE’s state-aligned tech and investment ecosystem.
Breakdown of the $500 million investment
The investment was structured in phases, beginning with an initial payment of $250 million. Of that amount, $187 million was directed to entities linked to the Trump family. According to the report, at least $31 million was earmarked for entities associated with Steve Witkoff, a co-founder of World Liberty Financial who currently serves as the US special envoy to the Middle East.
Another $31 million was allocated to an entity connected to the platform’s other co-founders, Zak Folkman and Chase Herro.
The investment was made through Aryam Investment 1, a company backed by Sheikh Tahnoon, which would become World Liberty Financial’s largest shareholder if the full transaction is completed.
According to Fortune, World Liberty Financial was launched in 2024 as a decentralized finance platform, marking one of the Trump family’s most significant moves into the cryptocurrency space. Before the Abu Dhabi stake purchase, the project had already brought in about $550 million through token sales, highlighting its rapid growth ahead of the equity investment.
Why the deal has drawn wider attention
The transaction has attracted attention not only because of its size and timing, but also because of Sheikh Tahnoon’s broader diplomatic and business relationships with the United States.
The scrutiny has also intensified due to overlapping financial flows within the Trump-linked crypto ecosystem. Fortune notes that World Liberty Financial later launched its own stablecoin, USD1, which gained prominence after MGX, another Abu Dhabi-backed entity, used USD1 to settle a $2 billion investment into Binance. This effectively tied Emirati sovereign capital to a Trump-issued digital currency.
Sheikh Tahnoon is the Chairman of Group 42 Holding Ltd. (G42), an Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company. In December last year, G42 received approval from the US Department of Commerce to purchase advanced AI chips from major American firms, including Nvidia Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., and Cerebras Systems Inc., following discussions with US officials at the White House.
The timing of the crypto investment, the approval of advanced AI chip sales, and the involvement of Sheikh Tahnoon’s close associates have prompted questions about whether diplomacy, access to sensitive technology, and private business interests intersected during the presidential transition.
While no wrongdoing has been alleged, the convergence of these factors has drawn heightened scrutiny because it brings together foreign policy decisions, national-security-linked technology, and a substantial investment in a Trump-linked crypto venture.
Political and regulatory response
The reported deal has also prompted questions from US lawmakers. In January, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren urged banking regulators to delay reviewing World Liberty Financial’s application for a bank charter until President Trump divested his interest in the company.
Ethics watchdogs cited by Fortune have warned that such arrangements could revive concerns tied to the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution, which bars a sitting president from receiving benefits from foreign governments. While no formal violation has been alleged, critics describe the structure and timing of the deal as a textbook example of a potential conflict of interest.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) later rejected that request, stating that political or personal financial ties would not affect the review process and that WLFI’s application would be evaluated under the same “rigorous review” standards applied to other companies.
Company pushes back on claims
World Liberty Financial has maintained that President Trump had no involvement in the transaction after taking office. Responding to the reports, company spokesman David Wachsman said, “Neither President Trump nor Steve Witkoff had any involvement whatsoever in this transaction and have had no involvement in World Liberty Financial since taking office.”
He also defended the company’s approach to raising capital, adding, “The idea that, when raising capital, a privately-held American company should be held to some unique standard that no other similar company would be held is both ridiculous and un-American.”
What comes next
While no investigation has been announced, the scale of the investment, its timing just before Trump’s inauguration, and the involvement of a foreign royal have ensured continued attention from regulators, lawmakers, and the media.
For now, Trump continues to distance himself from the deal, while the company insists the transaction was conducted independently, as questions around politics, crypto, and global capital remain firmly in focus.
Also Read: Could Kevin Warsh’s Crypto Ties Boost Trump’s Financial Play?
