Five Senate Democrats have escalated their investigation into a reported $500 million UAE-linked investment in World Liberty Financial, formally demanding immediate hearings into the controversial transaction. According to reports from The Wall Street Journal, Aryam Investment 1, an Abu Dhabi-based company backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' national security adviser and manager of its largest wealth fund, acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial through an agreement signed on January 16, 2025, just four days before Donald Trump's second inauguration. The senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Dick Durbin, and Ron Wyden, sent their request to the Republican chairs of five Senate committees on June 23, demanding that Trump administration officials testify under oath about what they knew regarding the payments. As reported by CoinDesk, this arrangement represents what the senators describe as "something unprecedented in American politics: a foreign government official taking a major ownership stake in an incoming U.S. president's company."
The White House has directly denied any connection between the Trump administration's AI agreement with the UAE and World Liberty Financial, with spokeswoman Anna Kelly stating that the UAE AI agreement was designed to deepen a strategic technology partnership between Washington and Abu Dhabi. "The Trump administration's historic agreement to enhance the partnership between the United States and the United Arab Emirates on artificial intelligence was designed to ensure the global AI ecosystem will be built with American chips and use American models, all while guaranteeing significant UAE investments into the United States," Kelly said in comments provided to BeInCrypto. The White House maintains that "President Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children, and Special Envoy Witkoff has completely divested from the company," with White House Counsel David Warrington adding that "The President has no involvement in business deals that would implicate his constitutional responsibilities." This investigation represents the latest in a series of probes into Trump's cryptocurrency ventures involving the UAE, with Senator Warren having previously written to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in February over the deal.
The latest reports reveal that the $500 million investment included $218 million in upfront payments to entities tied to the Trump family and Steve Witkoff, President Trump's lead diplomat for the Middle East and Russia. According to The Wall Street Journal, approximately $187 million went to Trump family-linked entities, while roughly $31 million flowed to Witkoff family-linked entities. World Liberty Financial launched in 2024 as the Trump family's foray into decentralized finance, conducting large-scale token sales that raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Under its structure, the Trump family holds a 75% claim on net revenues generated from token sales, with Reuters reporting that the Trump family had earned more than $2.3 billion from four crypto ventures since the start of Trump's second term. A separate 2025 transaction with a firm called Alt5 Sigma reportedly routed approximately $1.5 billion in WLFI tokens and yielded around $500 million to the Trump family after fees.
The senators have identified three subsequent policy decisions that benefited the UAE following the investment timeline. Within months of the investment, the administration approved $1.4 billion in arms sales to the UAE, despite congressional objections over weapons reaching armed groups in Sudan. The senators also cite the authorized sale of 35,000 advanced US AI chips to UAE firm G42 in November 2025, despite officials flagging national security concerns. The lawmakers' letter identifies specific policy decisions that benefited the UAE, including Treasury's creation of a 'Known Investor Pilot' program to fast-track UAE investment approvals through CFIUS, and the Department of Commerce rescinding Biden-era chip export restrictions. Senator Chris Murphy put it plainly on the Senate floor: "the UAE investment 'steered millions of dollars to Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff right before the Trump White House greenlit an unprecedented deal to sell advanced AI chips to the UAE."
The senators have also focused on Steve Witkoff, Trump's Special Envoy for Peace Missions, because of his family's connection to World Liberty Financial. White House Counsel David Warrington said Witkoff "complied with ethics rules and had stepped away from the company," noting that "as Special Envoy for Peace Missions, he has not and does not participate in any official matters that could impact his financial interests." A source close to Witkoff, speaking on background, emphasized that "Steve's children run World Liberty Financial and that he had no role in the company." The source added that "Steve was not involved in negotiations related to G42. He was only briefed on these discussions, which is totally appropriate given his role at the time as Special Envoy to the Middle East." The comments leave the core dispute unresolved, with Democrats wanting sworn testimony and committee hearings into whether World Liberty Financial's foreign-linked deals created conflicts inside the administration, while the White House maintains that both Trump and Witkoff were separated from relevant business interests.
