Senator Elizabeth Warren called for a congressional hearing after new reports revealed that the United Arab Emirates’ top intelligence official secretly owned nearly 50% of a Trump-era cryptocurrency company.
Just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, an entity backed by Sheikh Tanu bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’ national security adviser and a key power broker known as the “Spy Sheik,” quietly purchased a 49% stake in World Freedom Financial Corporation for $500 million, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.
The agreement, signed by Eric Trump, reportedly funneled $187 million directly to Trump family entities and at least $31 million to entities tied to Trump ally Steve Witkoff, who was recently named special envoy to the Middle East.
The Wall Street Journal noted that the deal came months after the Trump administration approved the sale of advanced U.S. artificial intelligence chips to the UAE, and the Biden administration restricted the technology due to national security concerns over Tannoon AI company G42.
Senator Warren, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, issued a statement following the release of the report:
“This is corruption, plain and simple. The Trump administration must reverse its decision to sell sensitive artificial intelligence chips to the United Arab Emirates. Steve Witkopf, David Sachs, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other Trump administration officials must testify before Congress about their betrayal of U.S. national security to benefit the president’s crypto companies and whether any officials enriched themselves in the process. Congress needs to stand strong and put a stop to Trump’s crypto corruption.”
Warren and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) have previously called for an investigation into whether Donald Trump, his family and senior officials profited from foreign crypto transactions related to U.S. technology access.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told the Wall Street Journal: “President Trump acted only in the best interest of the American public.” She said Trump’s assets are managed by trust funds managed by his children. “There is no conflict of interest.” She said Witkoff was working to “advance President Trump’s world peace goals.”
White House Counsel David Warrington also told the Wall Street Journal that “the president has not engaged in business transactions that would affect his constitutional responsibilities.” He added that Witkoff takes compliance with government ethics rules very seriously. “He has not and will not be involved in any official matters that may affect his financial interests,” he said, noting that Witkoff had “withdrawn capital from World Freedom Financial Corporation.”
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