UAE royal family handed Donald Trump $500 million days before his inauguration

A member of the Emirati royal family purchased a $500 million stake in President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency firm, World Liberty Financial, just four days before his inauguration, sparking major concerns about national security. This deal, which was revealed through undisclosed corporate documents, involved Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal who oversees an enormous state investment fund.

Just think about the timing here. The Sheikh’s associated firm purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty, a company co-owned by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his family. Ethics experts are worried because, thanks to the ownership structure at the time, the deal meant an immediate payment of as much as $187 million flowed right into the Trump family’s coffers on the cusp of Trump’s return to the White House. 

ABC News reported that the companies involved are pushing back hard against any claims of impropriety. David Wachsman, a spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, acknowledged the deal existed but insisted that “neither President Trump nor Steve Witkoff had any involvement whatsoever in this transaction.” 

That, there, my friends, is a classic PR deflection

Wachsman defended the transaction, saying, “We made the deal in question because we strongly believe that it was what was best for our company as we continue to grow.” I think it’s pretty telling that he went on to call the idea that a private American company should be held to a unique standard when raising capital “both ridiculous and un-American.”

David Warrington, the White House counsel, denied any wrongdoing, stating that “the President has no involvement in business deals that would implicate his constitutional responsibilities” and performs his duties ethically. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly added that the president “only acts in the best interests of the American public.” However, all indicators point to the Trump family profiting from politics.

Regardless of the denials, the timeline looks extremely messy. Only months after this massive investment, the Trump administration went ahead and agreed to supply the UAE with highly coveted American-made AI chips. A deal that the previous administration refused out of concern that the chips, used in sophisticated weapons, would be redirected to China, enabling them to launch cyberattacks.

This isn’t the only time World Liberty Financial has benefited from its high-level connections. The firm secured a $5 billion windfall when trading of its digital token first opened. Furthermore, the UAE President’s brother, Sheikh Tahnoon, is chairman of the investment firm MGX. MGX used the same token to invest in Binance, and is one of the companies with a stake in the new TikTok U.S. joint venture. And TikTok has now introduced some interesting data collection terms.

Unsurprisingly, Congressional Democrats were quick to characterize the transaction as evidence of alleged pay-for-play, claiming that foreign countries are “bribing our president to sell out the American people.” Ethics experts share that apprehension.