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National Security · Senate Hearings · Trump Crypto Deal · UAE Investment
U.S. Senate Democratic leaders, including Senators Warren, Blumenthal, Peters, Durbin, and Wyden, demand immediate hearings into a secret $500 million investment by an Emirati royal's lieutenants into the Trump family's World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency firm, raising national security concerns regarding subsequent Trump Administration actions.
Public reporting revealed that four days before Donald Trump's inauguration, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial (WLF) for approximately $500 million, with $218 million paid upfront to entities tied to the families of President Trump and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The lawmakers note this arrangement marked an unprecedented instance of a foreign government official taking a major ownership stake in an incoming U.S. president's company.
Within months of the deal, the Trump Administration approved $1.4 billion in arms sales to the UAE, authorized the sale of 35,000 advanced AI chips to the UAE’s G42 firm despite national security concerns, and took steps to loosen cryptocurrency regulations, including disbanding the Justice Department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. The senators also note that UAE-backed MGX purchased a stake in TikTok, despite President Trump’s promise it would be owned by “American investors [and] American companies.” Lawmakers express deep concern about these events, questioning what more the UAE received at the expense of U.S. national security after investing in the Trump family crypto company.
