$500 million from the UAE to Trump's crypto project: Democrats demand urgent Senate hearings
Five influential Democratic senators have sent an official request to the chairs of key Senate committees, demanding urgent hearings on the cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial (WLF), backed by President Trump's family. The reason is information that shortly before the president's inauguration, a $500 million stake in the project was purchased by individuals connected to a member of the United Arab Emirates royal family.
The letter, dated June 23, was signed by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Dick Durbin, and Ron Wyden. The addressees are the chairs of the committees on banking, finance, judiciary, homeland security, and investigations. The lawmakers insist that representatives of the Trump administration answer under oath what they knew about these financial flows.
The $500 Million Deal and UAE Intelligence Ties
A key trigger for the investigation was a publication in business media. According to available data, the company Aryam Investment from Abu Dhabi acquired 49% of World Liberty Financial for approximately $500 million. The deal was closed just four days before the inauguration of the US president in January 2025.
This company is controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's National Security Advisor and manager of the country's largest sovereign wealth fund. According to information from open sources, about $187 million from this deal went to entities linked to the Trump family, and approximately $31 million went to entities linked to the Witkoff family.
The senators draw a direct parallel between these investments and the subsequent actions of the US administration. They note that a few months after the deal, the US government approved the sale of $1.4 billion worth of weapons to the UAE. Furthermore, in November 2025, despite warnings about a threat to national security, permission was granted to supply 35,000 advanced American AI chips to the UAE company G42.
"The entire chain of events raises serious concerns and questions for us: it is possible that the UAE authorities have already received or will receive even more — to the detriment of US national security — after investing in the Trump family's crypto company," the letter states.
Regulatory Easing and the White House Position
The Democrats also highlight steps that have weakened oversight of the crypto industry, including the disbandment of the Justice Department's special unit for investigating cryptocurrency crimes. The White House, for its part, states that the president's assets have been placed in a trust managed by his children, which, in their view, eliminates a conflict of interest. World Liberty Financial itself previously denied the involvement of Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff in the deal after the president took office.
Cryptalist Analysis: This precedent brings to the surface a fundamental problem of the modern crypto industry — the risk of using decentralized financial instruments for transactions that could have geopolitical consequences. A $500 million deal between the family of a sitting president and a state fund of a foreign power, even an allied one, inevitably raises questions about the boundaries of transparency in DeFi. The market should be prepared for increased regulatory pressure that will follow such investigations, regardless of their outcome.