Trump lands in Senate's crosshairs over $500 million UAE investment in his crypto venture
Key takeaways
- The arrangement was reportedly backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's National Security Advisor.
- CoinDesk reached out to both WLFI and the UAE government for a comment on the matter.
- Within months of the deal, the Trump Administration took policy decisions that benefited the UAE, according to the letter.
Citing a series of Trump administration decisions that benefited the UAE, the lawmakers are seeking sworn testimony on potential conflicts of interest and foreign influence.Senate Democrats called for immediate hearings into UAE officials' huge investments in President Donald Trump's family crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, and subsequent decisions by the Trump administration that seemingly favored the Gulf country, in a letter dated June 23.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Richard Durbin, and Ron Wyden requested that multiple Senate committees hold hearings on a deal in which lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for half a billion dollars.
The deal closed four days before President Trump's inauguration last year, the letter said, adding that as part of the agreement, foreign buyers reportedly paid $218 million upfront to entities tied to the Trump family and Steve Witkoff, President Trump's lead diplomat for the Middle East and Russia.