President Donald Trump’s crypto business is facing scrutiny in Washington after Senate Democrats demanded hearings into a reported $500 million investment from Abu Dhabi-linked entities into World Liberty Financial.
Lawmakers say the deal raises serious questions about foreign influence, national security, and whether subsequent U.S. policy decisions benefited the UAE.
In a June 23 letter, five Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Richard Durbin, and Ron Wyden, urged Republican leaders to immediately hold hearings into World Liberty Financial (WLF), the crypto venture that lists Trump and his sons as advisers.
The lawmakers are focusing on a reported deal in which an Abu Dhabi investment vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser, acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million.
According to reports cited by the senators, the agreement was signed by Eric Trump just four days before Trump’s January 2025 inauguration.
Roughly $218 million was reportedly paid upfront to entities linked to the Trump family and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s current Middle East envoy.
The senators called the arrangement unprecedented, stating that it involved a senior foreign government official taking a major ownership stake in a company connected to an incoming U.S. president.
Therefore, senators want administration officials to explain what they knew about the investment, when they knew it, and whether any government decisions were influenced by payments connected to the Trump family or Steve Witkoff.
The lawmakers specifically called for officials to testify under oath.
The controversy is not only about the investment itself. Democrats argue that several Trump administration decisions later appeared to benefit the UAE.
Among them was a $1.4 billion arms sale, a fast-track foreign investment approval program, and the removal of certain AI chip export restrictions.
One decision reportedly allowed UAE-based AI firm G42 to access 35,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips, a deal worth more than $1 billion.
Lawmakers now want administration officials to explain whether any connection existed between the investment and subsequent policy decisions.
The timing could not be worse for the crypto industry. Congress is currently debating the CLARITY Act.
Congress is simultaneously advancing the CLARITY Act, with the House Financial Services Committee set to hold a hearing on the bill in New York on July 17.
Meanwhile, Democrats have already warned that they may oppose the bill unless lawmakers address potential conflicts of interest involving elected officials and crypto businesses.
Trump and his family have reportedly generated more than $1 billion from crypto-related ventures, making the debate increasingly difficult to separate from broader crypto policy discussions.
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