Donald Trump's family crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) has found itself at the center of a controversial story: it has emerged that the company is collaborating with the Hong Kong-based platform WorldClaw, which provides access to models from Chinese AI developers. Many of these companies were previously officially designated by the U.S. administration as threats to national security.
My analysis shows that the scale of the collaboration is significant: of the 90 models available on WorldClaw, 43 belong to giants such as Alibaba, Baidu, and Z.ai. At the same time, the service also offers American solutions from OpenAI and Anthropic, which formally creates the appearance of balance.
The financial scheme looks even more intriguing. WorldClaw accepts payment in the USD1 stablecoin, which is issued with the participation of WLFI. The Trump family owns 38% of the project and earns income from token turnover. Since USD1 is backed by U.S. Treasury bonds, the Trumps also lay claim to a portion of the interest income on reserves. The details of the financial arrangements between the companies remain undisclosed, which in itself raises questions.
The essence of the collaboration and the positions of the parties
WorldClaw, launched in 2026, insists on its independence, claiming it is not controlled by WLFI. However, a key figure—Ryan Fang, head of growth at World Liberty—has served as an advisor to the service on USD1 integration and international expansion. Moreover, the president's sons are actively promoting the platform: Donald Trump Jr. promised WorldClaw contest winners a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, and Eric Trump called it "the future of finance."
The aggregator WorldRouter itself, which stands behind WorldClaw, is impressive in scale: more than 10,000 users and over 50 million requests daily. The company is also developing an app with AI agents for everyday tasks—from ordering food to analyzing email.
Chinese developers under sanctions pressure
The situation becomes particularly acute due to the status of the Chinese companies. The Pentagon has placed Alibaba and Baidu on its list of firms linked to the Chinese military, which prohibits the Defense Department from contracting with them. Z.ai (formerly Zhipu AI) has been added to the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List—supplies to it require an export license, which is almost always denied. DeepSeek and Moonshot, also featured on WorldClaw, have previously been accused of stealing intellectual property.
All the Chinese companies deny any military ties, and Alibaba has already announced plans to challenge the Pentagon's decision in court, calling it "arbitrary and unfounded."
Reaction and expert assessments
Representatives of the White House and WLFI deny any conflict of interest, emphasizing that such practice is a "common and widely accepted approach." However, seven experts in Chinese technology and government ethics surveyed hold a different view. Sam Bresnick of Georgetown University called the situation hypocritical: the administration is trying to contain Chinese AI, while the president's family profits from it.
Lawyer Peter Jaydel offers a dual interpretation: on one hand, this is tension against the backdrop of a hawkish course; on the other, Trump's second term demonstrates the priority of business interests over political pressure. Daniel Remler warns of risks for users: possible surveillance by Chinese authorities, censorship, and malicious code.
A banking scandal on the horizon
In parallel, the OCC has approved WLFI's preliminary application to create a national trust bank, World Liberty Trust Company. This has drawn sharp criticism from Senator Elizabeth Warren, who called the decision "the most brazen case of self-enrichment in the history of the financial system." She has announced a bill that would prohibit regulators from approving licenses for entities owned by the president and his family.
My assessment: this situation exposes a fundamental problem at the intersection of politics and crypto-finance. Even if everything is legally clean, the ethical component and market perception of such collaborations could seriously damage the reputation of both WLFI and the entire digital asset industry in the U.S. Investors should closely monitor developments—regulatory pressure and public discontent could become a catalyst for volatility.