Just four days before he returned to the White House in January 2024, an investment firm owned by a royal from Abu Dhabi quietly secured nearly half of the Trump family’s digital currency venture in a deal that’s now igniting questions about potential conflicts of interest.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan—a member of the UAE’s ruling family and the nation’s national security adviser—purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial through his backed company, Aryam Investment 1, according to documents The Wall Street Journal obtained. Eric Trump signed the agreement, which structured the payment in installments with $250 million delivered upfront.
When the media asked the president about the transaction on Monday, Trump distanced himself from it. “I don’t know about it,” he said. “My sons are handling that—my family is handling it. I guess they get investments from different people.”
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Money Trail Raises Eyebrows
As per media reports, the financial breakdown shows $187 million flowing directly to Trump family entities from the initial payment. Another $31 million landed in accounts tied to Steve Witkoff’s family. Witkoff is Trump’s newly appointed envoy to the Middle East and also happens to be a co-founder of World Liberty Financial. His dual roles have raised concerns about where diplomacy ends and business interests begin.
The deal makes Aryam the largest shareholder in World Liberty Financial, which means there’s now substantial foreign ownership in a crypto platform where Trump himself is one of nine founders, along with his sons Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron.
Sheikh Tahnoon chairs Group 42, an Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence conglomerate that recently got U.S. Department of Commerce approval to purchase advanced chips from Nvidia and AMD. That approval shows his growing influence in American technology sectors.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has pushed banking regulators to postpone reviewing the bank charter application from World Liberty Financial until Trump divests his interest. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rejected her request, saying the application would get the same standard procedural review as any other, regardless of political connections.
The White House has tried to tamp down conflict-of-interest concerns, but the timing and structure of the Emirati investment keep drawing regulatory scrutiny. With half of World Liberty Financial now under a foreign entity and many questions mounting, regulators, lawmakers, and the public are left watching closely to see whether business, politics, and diplomacy can truly be kept separate.
