Just days before Donald Trump officially resumed the presidency in January 2025, entities associated with the Trump family secured a substantial influx of capital amounting to $187 million. This capital came from Aryam Investment 1, an investment firm supported by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' national security adviser.
This transaction, finalized on January 16, 2025, involved Aryam Investment 1 injecting $500 million into World Liberty Financial (WLFI) in exchange for a 49% ownership stake. Eric Trump personally signed the agreement representing the Trump family's interests. Of the initial $250 million installment, $187 million was directed to Trump-affiliated entities. Parallel distributions allotted $31 million each to the family entities of Steve Witkoff and to WLFI co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro.
The timing of this deal attracted scrutiny, notably because just weeks prior, Steve Witkoff was appointed by the incoming administration as the U.S. envoy to the Middle East. This sequence marked a rare occurrence where a foreign government-connected official acquired a significant stake in a business interest associated with the president-elect.
Sheikh Tahnoon, often referred to as the "spy sheikh," commands a vast United Arab Emirates empire reportedly valued at $1.3 trillion, concentrating on advanced artificial intelligence and surveillance sectors. A critical motivation behind this investment was to facilitate UAE acquisition of the United States' most advanced AI chips. These semiconductor components had been restricted under the preceding administration over concerns they could indirectly enhance Chinese technology firms, such as Huawei, owing to direct ties between the UAE's AI firm G42 and the sanctioned Chinese conglomerate.
Following the World Liberty Financial investment, Sheikh Tahnoon engaged in multiple meetings with both Trump and Witkoff. Notably, in March, he made a White House visit and committed to an extensive investment plan amounting to $1.4 trillion in the United States over the subsequent decade.
Further developments occurred two months later, when the U.S. government pledged to supply the United Arab Emirates with an annual allocation of 500,000 next-generation AI chips. This volume is sufficient to establish one of the largest AI data center infrastructures globally. Approximately twenty percent of these chips were designated to flow directly to G42, the UAE-affiliated AI firm.
The terms of the WLFI deal also led to changes in its governance structure. Two officers from Aryam Investment 1, Peng Xiao and Martin Edelman, both officials linked to G42, joined WLFI's five-member board alongside Eric Trump and Zach Witkoff. Later in May, Zach Witkoff announced that MGX, a company led by Sheikh Tahnoon, would utilize WLFI's USD1 stablecoin to facilitate a $2 billion capital commitment into Binance. This transaction represented Binance's largest-ever investment and underscores a significant strategic infusion into the cryptocurrency firm.
Unreported at the time was the shared board leadership between MGX and WLFI, both including the same G42 executives. This arrangement enhanced the USD1 stablecoin's profile and provided WLFI with a substantial cash reserve projected to yield roughly $80 million annually in interest earnings from U.S. Treasury securities.
From a legal perspective, experts have highlighted potential challenges surrounding the deal. The constitutional emoluments clause, which restricts federal officials from accruing benefits from foreign governments, could be implicated by these arrangements. Kathleen Clark, a law professor with experience as a former ethics attorney, characterized the $187 million investment as a possible bribe that endangers ethical standards and potentially compromises U.S. governance. Furthermore, Ty Cobb, who served as White House counsel during Trump's initial term, advised caution against engaging in business agreements with relatives or associates of foreign government leaders, citing risks to the credibility and effectiveness of American foreign policy.
Officials affiliated with World Liberty Financial have countered these assertions. David Wachsman, a company spokesperson, emphasized that the investment was unrelated to the AI chip arrangement. He further asserted that neither President Trump nor Steve Witkoff had any involvement with the investment following Trump's assumption of office, and that the financial transaction did not confer any influence over governmental policymaking.