^{Photo: Bloomberg.com}

A High-Profile Deal Kept Behind Closed Doors

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of the most powerful figures in the United Arab Emirates, quietly acquired a massive stake in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company linked to the Trump family, according to reports published over the weekend.

The transaction, completed last year, gave Tahnoon-backed investment firm Aryam Investment a 49% ownership position in World Liberty Financial for approximately $500 million. That share makes Aryam the company’s largest stakeholder and its only publicly known outside investor, effectively placing nearly half of the business under the control of a UAE royal and senior government official.

Tahnoon serves as the UAE’s national security adviser and oversees some of the country’s most influential sovereign wealth operations. He is widely regarded as a central architect of Abu Dhabi’s technology and investment strategy and manages entities controlling hundreds of billions of dollars in assets globally.

Inside World Liberty Financial and Its Stablecoin Strategy

World Liberty Financial operates USD1, a U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoin designed to maintain a 1:1 value with the greenback. The digital asset is backed by short-term U.S. Treasury securities, cash deposits, and other highly liquid equivalents, positioning it as a competitor in the fast-growing stablecoin market dominated by tokens such as USDT and USDC.

The company lists President Donald Trump and longtime associate Steve Witkoff as co-founders emeritus. Day-to-day operations are reportedly handled by members of the Trump and Witkoff families, keeping ownership and control tightly held.

Documents tied to the deal indicate that Eric Trump signed the agreement just days before his father’s second presidential inauguration. Financial disclosures linked to the transaction show that roughly $187 million flowed to Trump family entities, while approximately $31 million went to Witkoff-related businesses.

AI Chips, Geopolitics, and Timing Questions

The investment gained heightened attention due to what followed.

Several months after Tahnoon’s firm secured its stake in World Liberty, the United States approved a major export deal allowing the UAE to purchase up to 500,000 advanced artificial intelligence chips per year from Nvidia. About 20% of those chips were earmarked for G42, Tahnoon’s own AI company, which plays a central role in the UAE’s ambitions to become a global artificial intelligence hub.

This approval marked a dramatic shift from earlier U.S. policy. The previous administration had restricted sales of cutting-edge AI hardware to the UAE over concerns that the technology could be transferred to China or used in ways that posed national security risks.

The timing of the crypto investment and the subsequent chip agreement has raised questions in Washington about whether the two developments were connected.

Lawmakers Raise Conflict-of-Interest Concerns

The revelations have triggered sharp reactions from Democratic lawmakers, with some warning that the arrangement could represent a serious conflict of interest.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, publicly criticized the administration’s decision to authorize the chip sales, calling for immediate congressional hearings. She urged senior officials, including special envoy Steve Witkoff, White House AI and crypto adviser David Sacks, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, to testify about whether national security decisions were influenced by financial ties to the president’s crypto venture.

Warren and other critics argue that allowing a foreign government official to become a dominant shareholder in a Trump-linked crypto company while simultaneously approving sensitive technology exports creates, at minimum, the appearance of impropriety.

White House Pushes Back

The administration has denied any wrongdoing.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said there were “no conflicts of interest,” adding that Witkoff’s role is focused on advancing the president’s foreign policy objectives. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also defended the president during a Sunday television appearance, dismissing claims of unprecedented behavior and drawing comparisons to past administrations.

Blanche stated that President Trump has been transparent about his family’s business activities and rejected suggestions that the deal represented anything improper.

Republicans have long accused former President Joe Biden’s family of benefiting from overseas business relationships. While a House impeachment inquiry was launched around those claims, it ultimately failed to establish evidence of wrongdoing by Biden.

A Broader Spotlight on Crypto and Foreign Influence

Beyond the political fallout, the episode highlights the increasing intersection of cryptocurrency, geopolitics, and national security.

Stablecoins like USD1 are becoming critical infrastructure in global finance, facilitating cross-border payments and digital asset trading at scale. At the same time, nations such as the UAE are aggressively investing in both crypto and artificial intelligence as part of broader strategies to diversify their economies away from oil and establish leadership in next-generation technologies.

With World Liberty Financial now partly owned by a senior foreign official and the U.S. accelerating AI exports to the Gulf region, policymakers are facing renewed pressure to clarify rules around digital assets, foreign investment, and conflicts of interest.

As congressional scrutiny intensifies, the deal is likely to remain a focal point in debates over crypto regulation, AI governance, and the role of presidential family businesses in shaping U.S. economic and national security policy.

‍