The ties between US President Donald Trump and the UAE royalty came under major scrutiny after a report emerged that the latter’s national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has nearly half of the stake in the Trump family’s crypto firm.
An investment firm tied to the
United Arab Emirates reportedly purchased nearly half of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency company last year. The revelation was made in an explosive Wall Street Journal report, highlighting the links between US President Donald Trump and the UAE’s top royal and government official,
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
What garnered attention was the fact that this transaction was taking place while Trump was negotiating foreign policy matters with the Middle Eastern nation. The investment, which was initially reported by the Wall Street Journal, was later confirmed on Sunday by a spokesman for the Trumps’ crypto company,
World Liberty Financial.
As per the report, days before Trump assumed the office of the president for the second time, his son, Eric Trump, signed an agreement with the investment firm for a $500 million investment in World Liberty. David Wachsman, a World Liberty spokesman, eventually confirmed the transaction in a statement to The New York Times.
Ties between the Trump family and the Emiratis
The agreement gave the Emirati-backed firm a 49 per cent stake in World Liberty. With this, Top lieutenants to the UAE’s national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, joined the board of World Liberty. When asked about the terms of the deal, including the size of the board, Wachsman said, “We made the deal in question because we strongly believe that it was what was best for our company as we continue to grow.”
It is pertinent to note that the Trump family’s business dealings with the Emiratis have blurred the line between government and private enterprise, alarming ethics experts and congressional
Democrats. Tahnoon is a member of the Emirati royal family and has been a major foreign policy intermediary with the United States for over a decade.
He is known for running a sprawling investment empire that includes G42, a technology firm that has become a powerhouse in the booming world of artificial intelligence. Interestingly, the investment in World Liberty was one of two large transactions last year involving the Trumps’ crypto firm and the Emirati government.
During a conference in Dubai in May last year, World Liberty executives disclosed that MGX, another company run by Sheikh Tahnoon, was using $2 billion worth of a digital currency issued by World Liberty. The currency called stablecoin is being used to make large investments.
The move went on to turn World Liberty into one of the world’s largest issuers of stablecoins — a type of cryptocurrency that maintains a price of $1. The deal was poised to generate tens of millions of dollars a year in revenue for World Liberty.
Overall, the Trump family’s crypto investments in the past year have increased the family’s net worth by more than $1 billion, at least on paper. Interestingly, while the deal was coming together, the Emirati government secured an agreement with the Trump administration for the export of hundreds of thousands of advanced chips to power A.I. technology.
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