White House Under Scrutiny Over Emirati Royal’s $500 Million Investment in Trump Family Crypto Firm
By Lucien Bruggeman and David Brennan | February 2, 2026
The White House is facing intense questions following reports that a member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) royal family purchased a substantial stake in President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, just days before he took office. The Wall Street Journal disclosed over the weekend that a $500 million deal was struck with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a powerful Abu Dhabi royal and chair of a massive state investment fund.
The Controversial Deal
According to documents reviewed by the Journal, a company linked to Sheikh Tahnoon acquired a 49% ownership share of World Liberty Financial, a firm co-owned by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his family. The transaction took place a mere four days before President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest between the president’s business dealings and government decisions.
Just months later, the Trump administration authorized the sale of advanced American-made artificial intelligence (AI) chips to the UAE. This move ran counter to the previous administration’s caution, which had withheld such sensitive technology over fears it could be redirected to China.
White House Response
David Wachsman, spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, confirmed the deal to ABC News but emphatically denied any connection between the investment and government policy decisions. "Neither President Trump nor Steve Witkoff had any involvement whatsoever in this transaction," Wachsman said. He criticized the notion that a privately-held American company raising capital should be singled out for scrutiny as "ridiculous and un-American."
In a separate statement, White House counsel David Warrington asserted that the president "has no involvement in business deals that would implicate his constitutional responsibilities" and emphasized that President Trump "performs his constitutional duties in an ethically sound manner."
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly also defended the president against conflict of interest allegations, stating that Trump’s assets are held in a trust managed by his children, not under an independent trustee as is typical for a blind trust arrangement. "There are no conflicts of interest," she said.
Broader Implications and National Security Concerns
The controversy deepens given the strategic significance of the AI chips sold to the UAE. Peter Wildeford, head of policy at the AI Policy Network, warned that if China were to obtain these chips from the UAE, it could undermine U.S. national security by enabling advanced cyberattacks and the development of autonomous weapons.
Adding complexity to the story, ABC News previously reported that MGX, a UAE-backed investment firm chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon, used a digital token minted by World Liberty Financial to help finance a $2 billion investment in the crypto exchange Binance. MGX also holds a 15% stake in a new U.S. TikTok joint venture.
Political Fallout
The revelations have triggered swift backlash from Democratic lawmakers who accuse the Trump administration of pay-for-play corruption. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called the situation “mind blowing corruption” on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) condemned the deal as "corruption, plain and simple," while Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) claimed that "foreign countries are bribing our president to sell out the American people."
Ethics experts warn that a foreign government official directing hundreds of millions of dollars into a company partly owned by the sitting U.S. president is an unprecedented situation fraught with ethical and national security risks. Robert Weissman, co-president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, noted, "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."
Financial Impact for the Trump Family
World Liberty Financial stands as one of the most lucrative ventures of the Trump family, particularly in the cryptocurrency realm. Last year, ABC News reported that the Trump family reaped roughly $5 billion when trading of World Liberty’s digital token began. According to the Journal’s report, Sheikh Tahnoon paid half of his investment—estimated at up to $187 million—upfront, providing a significant capital injection to the Trump family on the cusp of the new administration.
Looking Ahead
The Trump Organization declined immediate comment on the report. Meanwhile, the disclosures are likely to intensify demands from Congress and ethics watchdogs for greater transparency regarding foreign investments in entities affiliated with the president.
As the debate over AI chip sales and crypto investments continues to unfold, questions regarding the intersection of private wealth and public office remain center stage in U.S. political discourse.
ABC News will continue to monitor developments on this story.
Related coverage:
- Trump family crypto venture leveraged in $2 billion Emirati-backed investment deal
- Biden administration’s refusal to sell AI chips to UAE due to China concerns
- Ethics experts raise alarm over foreign investments linked to U.S. leadership
Photos by Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images and Eduardo Munoz/Reuters