DShortly before Donald Trump returns to office in January 2025, an investment firm controlled by a senior member of the UAE royal family secretly signed a deal to pay $500m to buy almost half of a cryptocurrency startup founded by the Trump family. such arrangement under any other President, which was revealed The Wall Street Journal would set off a political storm in Washington last weekend. Congress will demand investigations, televised hearings and months of damage control.
But this latest example of corruption involving Trump and his family business has received little light over the past few days, becoming a passing headline in the relentless news cycle that often dominates Trump’s actions and statements.
This scandal deserves our attention: a half-billion-dollar transaction with a foreign government official, carried out in the shadow of Trump’s inauguration, that directly enriched the president and his family. Deal to acquire 49% stake in World Liberty Financial crypto company Founded by the Trump family and several associates in late 2024 during Trump’s presidential campaign, it was backed by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of the UAE’s most powerful officials. known as “Detective Sheikh”Tahnoon is the brother of the UAE President and serves as National Security Advisor. He also oversees one of the world’s largest investment empires, serving as chairman of two Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds, which have assets worth $1.5tn, and G42, a firm focused on artificial intelligence.
It is difficult to continue the way Trump has monetized the presidency and used it for personal gain in his second term. The Trump Organization, run by the president’s sons, has conducted foreign negotiations real estate deals Worth billions of dollars, some of which involve private companies supported by governments Of the three wealthiest Arab petrostates: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In May, as Trump prepared to visit the Middle East, the government of Qatar donated a $400 million luxury Boeing jet, which is being reconditioned by the US military so Trump can use it as Air Force One. This was probably the most expensive gift from a foreign government in US history – and Trump has said the plane will be transferred to his presidential library when his term ends in 2029, meaning he can use it even after leaving the White House.
In late May, the president hosted a private dinner at his Virginia golf club for the 220 largest buyers of his memecoin, called $Trump, a type of cryptocurrency that is tied to online jokes or mascots and has no inherent value. The top 25 buyers in the crypto contest were invited to a VIP reception and White House tour with Trump. Overall, Trump family’s crypto business grew approximately $148 million From the competition, most of it was from overseas or anonymous buyers. The top spender was Chinese crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who bought more than $20 million worth Of Trump’s memecoins. (In February 2025, just weeks after Trump took office, the Securities and Exchange Commission suspended a civil fraud case brought against Sun until 2023 – leading to allegations that he was getting favorable treatment because he had.) Invested $75 million In another crypto project of the Trump family. A Sun spokesperson said They “did not request special treatment, nor condition any commercial activity on regulatory decisions”.)
Despite the sheer scale of these conflicts around Trump over the past year, The $500 million deal involving World Liberty and UAE’s Tahnoon is “the only known case of a foreign government official buying a major stake in Trump’s company after his election”, as Journal reported. By linking his personal fortunes with the Gulf ruling families, Trump has compromised his ability – and the ability of his entire administration – to negotiate foreign policy and act as an honest broker. How can Washington credibly pressure the UAE Its role is to fuel Civil war in Sudan, when the Emirati National Security Advisor is a business partner of the US President?
Over the past decade, Tahnoon has led foreign policy dialogue with the US on key issues including fighting terrorism, economic investment and ensuring the UAE’s access to advanced computer technology. In March, he visited Washington and met trumpGaining access to and respect for top cabinet members white house dinner – Honor usually given to a visiting head of state. The public did not know about the secret deal that Tahnoun’s investment firm had signed with the Trump family’s crypto company two months earlier.
The revelations also underscore why Trump’s foray into crypto has become the most lucrative and dangerous way for him to profit from the presidency. After Trump’s first term, his family business grew beyond a real estate group that licensed the Trump brand to hotels, golf resorts and residential towers around the world — it now includes media platforms like Truth Social and various crypto ventures. In total, Trump made $1.4 billion from crypto projects last year, about a fifth of the family’s estimated wealth of $6.8 billion. according to bloomberg.
These crypto ventures are particularly suitable for exploitation because they allowed Trump and his family to collect millions of dollars From foreign investors and government officials, who typically have difficulty channeling money to American politicians. Trump is not only enriching himself through the presidency, he has entered an industry that is filled with fraud and lack of transparency. Within months of returning to office, the Trump administration began deregulating the industry and ordered the Justice Department to disband a national unit dedicated to investigating crypto-related fraud, which was established under Joe Biden’s administration in 2022.
While last year’s $500 million investment in World Liberty Financial was a big deal for Trump and his family, it didn’t pay off. a lot of financial sense As for Tahnoun, the UAE royal invested in a budding crypto firm that was doing little business before Trump took office. So what did the UAE get for its money?
It seems the totalitarian monarchy has found the keys to unlocking the future of artificial intelligence. Tahnoon’s secret investment turned out to be one of two major transactions last year involving the Trump family’s crypto company and the UAE government. At a crypto conference in Dubai in May, Trump’s son Eric and a business partner, Zach Witkoff (who is also the son of Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy to the Middle East), Announced that MGXAnother company, headed by Tahnoon, will invest $2 billion using a stablecoin issued by World Liberty. Stablecoin is a type of digital currency that maintains a price of $1, and MGX transactions can generate millions of dollars interest revenue Each year for the President and his family.
At the crypto conference, Zack Witkoff lauded the MGX deal as an endorsement of World Liberty’s capabilities as a tech startup. but he failed to disclose Both companies had major investors and were led by some of the same executives. According to the Journal’s investigation, Tahanoun’s first $500m investment enabled him to name two members of World Liberty’s board – and those two directors also served on the MGX board.
Two weeks after MGX’s $2bn investment in Trump family crypto firm, Trump administration UAE allowed To buy hundreds of thousands of advanced computer chips critical to AI development. The chips are made by American companies, notably Nvidia, and the Biden administration had restricted how many chips some foreign countries can buy to prevent misuse of the technology. but trump finished off Those restrictions.
Some US national security officials objected to selling The UAE owns advanced chips and worries that Emirati companies will share them with China, which could use the technology to enhance its military systems. In an investigation published in September, New York Times revealed Steve Witkoff and Tahnoun were involved in the UAE’s negotiations with the Trump administration over access to AI chips – and were associated with the emirate’s investment in the Trump (and Witkoff) families’ crypto venture.
The White House insists there was no connection between the World Liberty crypto transaction and the administration’s decision to sell AI technology to the UAE — and claims there is no conflict of interest between Trump and Witkoff as they have sided with their family businesses. White House counsel David Warrington said, “The President has no involvement in business deals that would impact his constitutional responsibilities.” said on sundayFollowing the latest revelations about the UAE royal’s investment in World Liberty. “President Trump performs his constitutional duties in a morally sound manner, and to suggest otherwise is either ill-informed or malicious.”
While Trump’s allies argue he is living up to the highest ethical standards, the Republican-led Congress has shown little interest in investigating a staggering series of corrupt actions and self-enrichment that would have devastated any other presidency. And as Trump and his family tally increasing profits from their crypto empire, the rest of us must consider the cost to our democracy.
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Mohammed Bazi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies and journalism professor at New York University
