A crypto company linked to US President Donald Trump received a $500 million secret investment from the UAE four days before Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2025, according to a Sunday report from the Wall Street Journal.
The $500 million investment granted the Emiratis 49% of World Liberty Financial, a fledgling cryptocurrency venture owned by the Trump family, with the deal being approved by Eric Trump, the US president’s son, according to documents cited by the Journal.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s family was also implicated in the deal, with $31 million slated to flow to entities affiliated with them, according to the documents.
The documents also detailed how the deal was backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, reportedly in an effort to gain access to the US’s artificial intelligence chips, which Americans have been known to tightly guard from foreign actors.
The Biden administration had rejected Tahnoon’s attempts to gain access to the technology, citing concerns that it might be diverted to China, the report said.
According to the Journal, reports of an investment in a company linked to the Trump and Witkoff families mark the first instance of a foreign official taking a major stake in a company linked to an incoming US president.
Tahnoon reportedly oversees a $1.3 trillion empire spanning fish farms, AI, and surveillance, making him one of the most powerful single investors in the world.
David Wachsman, a spokesman for World Liberty, assured the Journal that Trump and Witkoff had no involvement in the deal and haven’t been involved in World Liberty since taking office, and that Witkoff had never played an operational role in the company.
“President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public,” said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly, adding that his assets are in a trust managed by his children. “There are no conflicts of interest.”
UAE’s deal to access US’ AI chips
Two months after Trump’s second inauguration, Tahnoon reportedly met with the US president and Witkoff to discuss a deal that would give the UAE access to 500,000 US chips a year to create one of the world’s largest AI data center clusters.
The deal was eventually closed in March, transforming the Gulf state into a major competitor in AI development.
During the May presentation of the Emirati data center project, Trump, who was present, repeatedly invoked Tahnoon and told the UAE President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, about his “wonderful brother” visit to Washington.