House launches probe into $500 Million UAE deal linked to World Liberty Financial

A senior House Democrat has launched a probe into Donald Trump-linked crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) over a reported $500 million investment from an entity tied to the United Arab Emirates royal family.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter on Wednesday requesting detailed information and documents from World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff.

The letter cited an earlier Wall Street Journal report of a 49% stake acquisition in World Liberty Financial by Aryam Investment 1, an entity controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a UAE national security advisor and brother of the UAE president.

According to the report, the deal was signed four days before Trump's inauguration and involved an upfront payment of $250 million — with $187 million directed to Trump family entities and at least $31 million going to entities affiliated with Steve Witkoff, who serves as the president's special envoy to the Middle East. 

China ties

Khanna's letter raised concern that the investment may have influenced shifts in U.S. export policies on advanced artificial intelligence semiconductors, which were designed to prevent the technology from being leaked to China.

Sheikh Tahnoon oversees entities including G42 and MGX, which have alleged ties to Chinese firms. Following the investment, the U.S. approved export licenses in November 2025 for advanced chips to G42 and supported a major AI data center project in the UAE.

Khanna also pointed to a $2 billion investment by MGX into Binance, a crypto exchange founded in China, facilitated using World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin in March 2025. This coincided with Sheikh Tahnoon's visit to Washington to meet with Trump. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao received a presidential pardon in October 2025, one month before the chip export approvals.

"Taken together, these arrangements are not just a scandal, but may even represent a violation of multiple laws and the United States Constitution," the letter said.

Questions

The letter suggests these events could raise national security issues and a possible violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause, which prohibits federal officials from accepting any financial profit or benefit from foreign states without congressional consent. 

Khanna requested responses to 16 specific questions by March 1, 2026, covering topics such as transaction and ownership details, due diligence on UAE entities, involvement in policy discussions, and revenues from Chinese sources. Requested documents include agreements with Aryam Investment 1, communications related to the Binance deal, capitalization tables, and internal policies on conflicts of interest.

"In their totality, these transactions, investments, and pardons do not just bear the appearance of impropriety, but of illegality," the letter said. "On a matter with such significant implications on our competition with the Chinese Communist Party, the American people deserve full transparency."

World Liberty Financial has not yet publicly responded to the letter. The Block has reached out to the project for comment.