Abu Dhabi royal invested in Trump crypto venture: report
A White House spokesperson says that the US president’s assets are in a trust managed by his children
AN ABU Dhabi royal signed a secret deal with the Trump family to buy a stake in their cryptocurrency venture, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing company documents and sources familiar with the matter.
Emissaries of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan inked a deal with Eric Trump to purchase a 49 per cent stake in World Liberty Financial for US$500 million, four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, according to the WSJ.
The first instalment was US$250 million, of which US$187 million was directed to Trump family entities, the paper said. At least US$31 million was set to go to entities linked with the family of Steve Witkoff, a World Liberty co-founder and the US special envoy to the Middle East. Another US$31 million went to an entity tied to the crypto venture’s other co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, the WSJ said.
“Neither President Trump nor Steve Witkoff had any involvement whatsoever in this transaction and have had no involvement in World Liberty Financial since taking office,” World Liberty Financial spokesperson David Wachsman said in a statement to Bloomberg in response to the report, adding the company made the deal in question for its own interest.
“The idea that, when raising capital, a privately-held American company should be held to some unique standard that no other similar company would be held is both ridiculous and un-American,” he said.
A White House spokesperson told the WSJ that Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children. The paper cited a source familiar with Tahnoon’s investment that the sheikh and a few co-investors completed a deal in World Liberty after reviewing it for some months.
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The Wall Street Journal said that the remaining US$250 million was due by Jul 15, 2025, and it couldn’t determine how the funds may have been distributed.
Tahnoon is the United Arab Emirates national security adviser, a deputy ruler of the emirate and was handed charge in 2023 of the US$1 trillion Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. BLOOMBERG
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