World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the crypto business tied to U.S. President Donald Trump’s family, is facing fresh scrutiny after a Wall Street Journal investigation linked a major stake in its planned bank structure to a senior figure in the United Arab Emirates.
The report says Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a central figure in Abu Dhabi’s ruling circle and the brother of the UAE president, controls as much as 49% of the holding company behind WLF’s proposed bank license application through an overseas investment entity.
Tahnoon also serves as the UAE’s national security adviser and oversees sovereign wealth and investment institutions worth hundreds of billions of dollars. That combination has intensified questions over possible overseas political and business conflicts involving the Trump family venture.
Trust company set up for U.S. banking charter application
According to the Wall Street Journal, WLF previously established a new trust company, World Liberty Trust Company, as part of an effort to expand its financial footprint. The entity was used to apply to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a National Trust Bank Charter, and the application reportedly received preliminary approval several weeks ago.
The report identifies the bank’s holding company as WLTC Holdings. Tahnoon and his investment partners are said to indirectly own up to 49% of WLTC Holdings through a company called StringZ Holding RSC.
Bank approval would open stablecoin and custody lines
If the bank is approved to operate, WLF would be able to legally conduct several financial and crypto businesses, including issuing and redeeming stablecoins, handling fiat deposits and withdrawals, and providing digital asset custody and conversion services.
WLF’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, USD1, now has a market capitalization above $4 billion, the report said. That would place it behind Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) and make it the world’s fourth-largest stablecoin.
White House rejects conflict-of-interest claims
This is not the first reported investment by Tahnoon into a Trump family business. Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Aryam Investment 1, an investment vehicle backed by Tahnoon, had quietly spent $500 million to acquire a 49% stake in WLF’s parent company just days before Trump was formally sworn in.
Responding to the criticism, White House first deputy press secretary Anna Kelly denied there was a conflict. In a statement, she said: "President Trump’s decisions are guided solely by the best interests of the American people. Despite years of endless smears and false accusations from fake news media against him and his family businesses, American voters sent him back to the White House with an overwhelming vote."
Kelly also said there was "absolutely no conflict of interest."
Congressional scrutiny is building
Even with that response from the White House, the transaction has triggered a strong reaction in Congress because it involves large-scale Middle Eastern royal capital and a business connected to the sitting president’s family.
Senate Democrats have already called on Republican leadership to hold hearings on the matter. In the House, attention has also been building. Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat, had already opened a dedicated inquiry in February into UAE royal money flowing into WLF.
With the Wall Street Journal’s latest findings now public, pressure in Congress to examine the Trump family’s overseas business entanglements appears to be rising.