World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a company affiliated with the family of U.S. President Donald Trump, has found itself at the center of a controversial story: it has emerged that the company is cooperating with the Hong Kong-based service WorldClaw, which provides access to AI models from Chinese developers previously placed on the U.S. administration's list of national security threats.
My analysis shows that this partnership is not just a technical nuance, but a potential conflict of interest that could become a serious reputational blow to the Trump family. According to my data, 43 of the 90 models on the WorldClaw platform were created by Alibaba, Baidu, Z.ai, and other Chinese firms, while the service also offers solutions from OpenAI and Anthropic.
Financial Flows and Deal Structure
The key point is that WorldClaw accepts payment in the USD1 stablecoin and World Liberty tokens. The Trump family owns 38% of this project and receives income from the sale and circulation of digital assets. The "stablecoin" is backed by U.S. Treasury bonds, giving the Trumps a claim to a portion of the interest income on reserves. Details of the financial arrangements between the companies remain undisclosed, but the very fact of such flows raises questions.
Notably, WorldClaw positions itself as an independent business, claiming it is "in no way offered, managed, or controlled" by World Liberty. However, WLFI's head of growth, Ryan Fang, served as an advisor to the service on USD1 integration and international expansion. The president's elder sons actively promoted the platform: Donald Trump Jr. promised WorldClaw contest winners a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, and Eric Trump called the partnership "the future of finance."
Chinese Developers Under Sanctions
The situation is compounded by the fact that some of the models offered belong to companies that have faced restrictions. The Pentagon has included Alibaba and Baidu on its list of firms linked to the Chinese military, while Z.ai (formerly Zhipu AI) has been added to the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List — requiring an export license for supplies, which is denied by default. DeepSeek and Moonshot, whose models are also available on WorldClaw, have previously been implicated in allegations of intellectual property theft.
At the same time, the use of Chinese AI solutions in the U.S. is generally legal, and they are cheaper than American counterparts. Alibaba, Baidu, and Z.ai deny any connection to the military, and Beijing rejects claims of technological theft. Alibaba has already announced plans to challenge the Pentagon's decision in court, calling it "arbitrary and unfounded."
Expert Opinions and Regulatory Context
Seven specialists in Chinese technology and government ethics I interviewed believed that the cooperation and the president's potential profits diverge from the course of his administration. Sam Bresnick of Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology called it "hypocritical" amid U.S. efforts to respond to the Chinese AI threat.
However, lawyer Peter Jaydel offered a dual interpretation: on one hand, this is tension against the backdrop of a hawkish course; on the other, Trump's second term is marked by less aggressive pressure on Chinese companies and a priority on business interests. Daniel Remler warned of risks for users: possible surveillance by Chinese authorities, censorship, and the introduction of malicious code.
Regulator Approves Trust Bank
In parallel, the OCC has given preliminary approval for the creation of the national trust bank World Liberty Trust Company. The new entity will handle the issuance and redemption of USD1 for institutional clients. Senator Elizabeth Warren called this "the most brazen case of self-enrichment in the history of the American financial system" and announced legislation prohibiting regulators from approving banking licenses for entities owned by the president and his family.
My assessment: this case is a classic example of how the crypto industry intersects with politics and national security. Even if everything is legally clean, the reputational risks for the project and its beneficiaries are colossal. In July, Trump already declared over $1.4 billion in income from cryptocurrency projects, including nearly $800 million from WLFI — and now every new step by the family will be scrutinized under a microscope.