Five Senate Democrats have asked Republican committee chairs to open immediate hearings into a reported $500 million United Arab Emirates investment in the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial. In a letter sent Tuesday, the lawmakers said the deal may have affected national security decisions made by President Donald Trump and his administration.
The letter cited reporting that associates of an Abu Dhabi royal quietly signed an agreement four days before Trump’s inauguration last year to acquire a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million. According to that reporting, foreign buyers paid $218 million upfront to entities tied to the families of Trump and his lead Middle East diplomat, Steve Witkoff.
Letter targets multiple Senate committee chairs
The request was addressed to Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chair Ron Johnson, Homeland Security Committee Chair Rand Paul, and Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, signed the letter along with Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Richard Durbin, and Ron Wyden.
The senators identified the backer as Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser. World Liberty Financial was founded by Trump, his sons, and the sons of Witkoff, Zach and Alex. The lawmakers described the structure as unprecedented in American politics, saying it was the first time a foreign government official had taken a major ownership position in a company tied to an incoming U.S. president.
Lawmakers link the stake to arms and AI chip approvals
The senators said the arrangement added to earlier concerns about MGX, a UAE state-backed firm whose investment reportedly increased the market capitalization of the Trump family’s stablecoin by nearly $2 billion overnight.
The letter also laid out a series of UAE-related decisions approved after Trump returned to office in January 2025. In May 2025, the administration cleared $1.4 billion in arms sales to the country despite concerns from lawmakers over human rights abuses in Sudan. In November 2025, it authorized the sale of 35,000 advanced AI chips worth more than $1 billion to the UAE’s G42, even as national security officials warned that China could gain access.
The lawmakers also pointed to a January 2026 transaction in which UAE-backed MGX bought a stake in TikTok at what they called a bargain price, a move they said conflicted with Trump’s earlier pledge that the app would be owned by American companies.
Democrats demand sworn testimony from officials
The senators connected the reported investment to broader crypto policy changes under the administration, including moves that exempted digital assets and related service providers from existing financial regulations and the dismantling of the Justice Department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. In the letter, they said administration officials should explain under oath what they knew about payments to the families of the president and Witkoff, and when they knew it.
The request extends Warren’s longer-running campaign against the Trump family’s crypto interests. In March 2026, she and Blumenthal pressed the SEC over the resignation of its enforcement chief, alleging that political appointees had shielded Trump-linked firms from enforcement action. In November 2025, Warren and Senator Jack Reed asked the Justice Department and Treasury Department to investigate alleged WLFI token sales to sanctioned actors. In June 2026, she also joined Bernie Sanders in urging the Labor Department to reverse a rule that eased the inclusion of crypto in 401(k) plans.