White House Faces Scrutiny Over Emirati Royal’s $500 Million Investment in Trump Family’s Crypto Firm
By Lucien Bruggeman and David Brennan
February 2, 2026
The White House is confronting a growing controversy following revelations that a member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) royal family invested $500 million in a cryptocurrency firm co-owned by former President Donald Trump’s family just days before he was inaugurated in January 2025. The timing and nature of the transaction have raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest amid subsequent U.S. government decisions involving the UAE.
Details of the Controversial Investment
According to an investigative report by The Wall Street Journal based on undisclosed corporate documents, a firm associated with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan—an Abu Dhabi royal and head of one of the UAE’s largest state investment funds—acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company co-owned by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his family. The purchase was finalized four days before the Trump administration officially took office.
Sheikh Tahnoon, brother to the UAE president and chairman of the UAE-backed investment firm MGX, agreed to pay half of his investment upfront, putting as much as $187 million directly into the Trump family’s business coffers on the cusp of the new administration.
U.S. Chip Deal with the UAE and Related Concerns
Months after the deal, the Trump administration approved a highly sensitive agreement to supply the UAE with advanced American-made artificial intelligence (AI) chips. These chips are considered key components of cutting-edge military technology. This move represented a sharp reversal of the prior administration’s position, which had declined similar sales due to fears the equipment could be diverted to Chinese military use.
Peter Wildeford, head of policy at the AI Policy Network, highlighted the national security risks, noting that the transfer of such technology could enable China to advance autonomous weapons systems and cybersecurity capabilities that threaten U.S. military superiority.
The Crypto Connection and MGM’s $2 Billion Investment
Adding another layer to the developing story, MGX—a UAE-backed firm chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon—has announced plans to finance a $2 billion investment in the major cryptocurrency exchange Binance, utilizing a digital token minted by World Liberty Financial. This development suggests a broader financial relationship involving the Trump family’s crypto enterprise and UAE investment strategies.
MGX also holds a 15% stake in the newly formed U.S. joint venture of the social media platform TikTok, further indicating its growing influence in American technology markets.
Responses from World Liberty Financial and the White House
David Wachsman, spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, confirmed the existence of the investment but denied any involvement by President Trump or Steve Witkoff in the transaction. In a statement to ABC News, he asserted that suggestions the deal influenced the administration’s chip exports to the UAE were "100% false."
Wachsman defended the investment as a standard capital-raising effort typical of growing companies:
"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."
White House counsel David Warrington similarly emphasized that the president was not involved in business sales implicating his constitutional duties, stating, “President Trump performs his constitutional duties in an ethically sound manner and to suggest otherwise is either ill-informed or malicious.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly echoed these remarks, underscoring that President Trump’s assets are managed in a trust controlled by his children, thereby precluding conflicts of interest. The Trump Organization has yet to comment on the matter.
Growing Political Backlash and Ethical Concerns
Democratic lawmakers swiftly condemned the deal. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) described the situation as “mind blowing corruption,” while Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called it “corruption, plain and simple.” Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) accused foreign governments of influencing the president for financial gain: “Foreign countries are bribing our president to sell out the American people.”
Ethics experts note the unprecedented nature of a foreign government official directing hundreds of millions into a firm partly owned by a sitting president, highlighting the serious ethical and national security implications. Robert Weissman, co-president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, remarked, “Maybe the President would have reached the same decision over the transfer of high-tech chips to UAE if he wasn’t also getting money from them. But we’ve got no way to know that, and we do know there was a lot of opposition inside the government.”
Broader Implications
World Liberty Financial has emerged as one of the Trump family’s most lucrative ventures, with earlier reports indicating a roughly $5 billion windfall from trading its digital tokens. The firm’s connections to powerful Middle Eastern interests and involvement in critical technology deals have now thrust it into the center of a major controversy with potential ramifications for U.S. foreign policy and national security.
As this story continues to develop, it raises urgent questions about transparency, ethical governance, and the role of financial interests in shaping critical policy decisions.
ABC News will continue to follow this story and provide updates as new information becomes available.