Parts of the money also went to entities linked to Steve Witkoff, Zak Folkman, and Chase Herro.
Trump told reporters on Monday that he has no idea what deal they’re talking about. Sitting in the Oval Office, he said, “I don’t know about it. I know that crypto is a big thing.”
When pressed, he said, “My sons are handling that. My family is handling it. And I guess they get investments from different people.”
The $500 million deal came just four days before Trump’s 2025 inauguration. People working for Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a powerful figure from the United Arab Emirates, signed an agreement with Eric Trump to buy a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to the Trump family.
The Wall Street Journal said the first half of the payment, $250 million, had already been sent. Out of that, $187 million went straight to businesses connected to the Trump family.
The rest of that first installment didn’t go to strangers. $31 million was funneled to a company tied to the family of Steve Witkoff, one of the company’s co-founders and a U.S. Middle East envoy. Another $31 million was paid to a group tied to Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, the other two co-founders of World Liberty Financial.
This deal raised eyebrows in Washington. Sheikh Tahnoon has close ties with American officials. He also runs Group 42 Holding, a tech investment company. That firm got approval last year to buy high-end AI chips from Nvidia, AMD, and Cerebras Systems, after talks held with White House officials.
A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, David Wachsman, told Bloomberg, “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.” He added, “The company made the deal in question for its own interest.”
Wachsman went on to say, “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 to is both ridiculous and un-American.”
During the same press event, Trump made it clear he supports crypto. The 47th president was speaking while announcing the U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve. He was joined by Mary Barrow, the CEO of General Motors, and Robert Friedland, the co-chair of Ivanhoe Mines, along with several members of Congress and U.S. trade officials.
Trump said, “Crypto is a big thing and they like it. A lot of people like it. The people behind me like it. My sons are handling that. My family is handling it. I guess they get investments from different people, but I’m not.”
He continued, “I have all I can handle right now with Iran, Russia, Ukraine, and everything else we’re doing. So I don’t know. I don’t know exactly other than, I’m a big crypto person. I’m the one that probably helped crypto more than anybody because I believe in it.”
He said the reason he believes in it is simple. “If we don’t do it, then China is going to do it. Right? If we don’t do crypto, then China is going to do it. And it’s just like AI. We’re leading AI by a lot. And if we weren’t leading, China would have led. They’re very capable. They’re very good.”
Trump also pointed to the legislation his team pushed to help the crypto world grow. “We did the Genius Act for stablecoins,” he said. He noted that people behind him at the event were working on the Clarity Bill, a law designed to make it easier for companies and developers to understand the rules around digital assets.
“We’re bringing U.S. best practices to the new industry. Digital assets. Innovation. And it spreads everywhere. So the U.S. is leading,” Trump said. Then he looked back at the reporters and added, “And do you agree that if we didn’t do it, China and others would? But China would.”
He finished that thought bluntly. “China would have had the lead. Then others around the world in terrible places would be doing it.”
Throughout the entire press event, Trump focused on crypto, AI, and tech leadership. He barely mentioned the $500 million UAE investment again. When asked, he just repeated, “I don’t know about it.”
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It’s free.
