Trump Crypto Deal, UAE Stake, and the AI Chips Timeline
The Wall Street Journal reported that a United Arab Emirates government official and a top royal bought a $500 million stake in the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture in the months before the U.S. approved sales of advanced AI chips to the UAE. According to reporting, Aryam Investment, tied to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, making it the company’s largest outside investor. That timeline has drawn scrutiny because the chip approvals followed the investment.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan — also known as the “spy sheikh” — is described as the Gulf nation’s national security adviser and the manager of its largest wealth fund. The deal reportedly positioned Aryam as the only known investor besides the founders and placed significant control in a Tahnoon-backed entity. Observers note that the arrangement overlaps with high-stakes geopolitics and commercial interest in AI technology.
World Liberty Financial is the firm behind the stablecoin USD1, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by short-term U.S. government treasuries, U.S. dollar deposits, and other cash equivalents. The company lists Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff as co-founders emeritus and is run by members of the Trump and Witkoff families. Reports say the signed agreement sent about $187 million to Trump family entities and roughly $31 million to Witkoff family entities.
The Journal’s reporting places the deal in the days before President Trump’s second inauguration, a timing critics call suspicious and supporters call transactional normalcy for private business. In May, months after the reported investment, the U.S. agreed to permit sales of hundreds of thousands of advanced AI chips to the UAE, with around one fifth of those chips allocated to Tahnoon’s AI company, G42. That sequence has prompted questions about conflicts of interest and whether policy decisions were influenced by private deals.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., responded bluntly in public comments: “This is corruption, plain and simple.” She urged congressional scrutiny and called for testimony from people tied to World Liberty and the sale decisions. Those calls reflect a partisan uproar from Democrats, but they are not the only public reaction.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told the Journal that “[t]here are no conflicts of interest.” The White House framed the matter as a routine commercial development while maintaining the administration’s posture that national security protocols were followed. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also pushed back on weekend TV, challenging the notion that this is unprecedented.
Blanche said, “I love it when these papers talk about something being unprecedented or never happening before as if the Biden family and the Biden administration didn’t do exactly the same thing, and they were just in office,” without providing evidence. He later added, “I don’t have a comment on it beyond President Trump has been completely transparent when his family travels for business reasons,” Blanche said. “This idea that there’s something untoward or unprecedented is just a repeated story that isn’t true.”
Republicans have long pointed to alleged inconsistencies in how business ties are treated across administrations and view this latest story through that lens. The Trump camp and some GOP lawmakers argue that private business activity by political figures is not automatically disqualifying and that selective outrage is politically driven. At the same time, others on the right insist transparency and proper process matter, and they support congressional oversight when credible questions arise.
The report also referenced broader regional dealmaking tied to Trump’s 2025 Gulf investment tour, which featured headline pledges of roughly 2 trillion dollars in announced deals and investment frameworks with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. Those large numbers underscore how intertwined diplomacy, finance, and private enterprise can become when high-profile figures travel and sign memorandums. Critics worry that overlap can muddy ethics, while defenders say large-scale economic engagement is part of national interest.
Whatever one’s view, the central facts in circulation are straightforward: a reported 49% stake purchased for $500 million by a Tahnoon-backed firm, substantial payments to Trump and Witkoff entities, a later U.S. decision to allow AI chip sales to the UAE, and public calls for hearings. The sequence triggered partisan dispute and official denials, and it will likely be the focus of oversight and political debate going forward.