President Trump says he was unaware of $500 million UAE investment in World Liberty Financial

During a press conference on Monday, President Donald Trump denied knowledge of a $500 million investment by an Abu Dhabi-backed entity in the Trump family-linked DeFi project World Liberty Financial WLFI, saying he is not directly involved in the company’s day-to-day operations. 

When asked about a Wall Street Journal report detailing the investment, Trump told reporters his sons manage such decisions. “My sons are handling that, my family is handling it… I have all I can handle right now with Iran and with Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said to reporters at the White House, implying that oversight of the project rests with his family.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, an Abu Dhabi investment vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan secretly acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial in an agreement signed by Eric Trump four days before his father's January 2025 presidential inauguration.

The deal involved a $500 million total commitment, with half paid upfront, the WSJ reported. Of the initial $250 million, $187 million went to Trump family-controlled entities, and at least $31 million went to entities affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff, the project's co-founder and later U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, the report said.

Abu Dhabi investment complicates path for market structure legislation

The Abu Dhabi investment has become an added flashpoint in negotiations over bipartisan digital asset market structure legislation.

Beyond the contentious debate over whether crypto platforms should be allowed to pay rewards on stablecoins, Democrats are now expected to insist on stricter conflict-of-interest rules. Jaret Seiberg, managing director at TD Cowen’s Washington Research Group, said in a note Monday that Democrats will likely demand provisions barring the president, senior officials, and their families from owning or controlling crypto entities.

Seiberg said the issue was already a sticking point, but has become more sensitive. The Wall Street Journal report, he noted, “adds pressure on Democrats to hold their ground.”

Democrats have long raised concerns about Trump’s crypto ventures, citing potential conflicts of interest. Sen. Chris Murphy publicly criticized the UAE’s $500 million investment in World Liberty Financial in an X post late Monday, calling the transaction “brazen, open corruption.” He noted that $187 million flowed to Trump family-controlled entities and at least $31 million to entities tied to Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and alleged that the deal granted the foreign investor access to sensitive defense technology, breaking decades of national security precedent.

In November 2025, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released a staff report titled “Trump, Crypto, and a New Age of Corruption.” The report alleged the Trump family built a multi-billion-dollar crypto empire “fueled by self-dealing and corrupt foreign interests,” with crypto holdings worth as much as $11.6 billion.

The report documented hundreds of millions of dollars earned through World Liberty Financial and related projects, with foreign actors and corporate investors allegedly gaining preferential access to regulatory rollbacks and policy decisions in return for investments.

Meanwhile, TD Cowen’s Seiberg concluded that resolving this impasse, among other issues delaying the market structure bill, now requires Trump’s “personal intervention.”