4 days before his inauguration, UAE royals invested $500 million in Trump’s crypto company. Now he’s pretending not to know a thing
Half a billion dollars changes hands days before an inauguration, but sure, Trump doesn’t know about that.
A foreign royal family invests half a billion dollars into a president-linked crypto business days before he takes office. When asked about it, the president acts naive and starts talking about China. Diplomacy or deception?
On Feb. 2, Donald Trump was asked directly about a report by The Wall Street Journal that a firm linked to the Abu Dhabi royal family invested $500 million into World Liberty Financial. One CNBC reporter asked him to explain why he decided to take that investment and whether that transactional.
Now, World Liberty Financial is a cryptocurrency company associated with the Trump family. The company’s deal with the Abu Dhabi royals, according to the reporting, was finalized around Jan. 16, 2025, merely four days before Trump’s second inauguration. But Trump’s response to the question was not a denial. It was an evasion.
“I don’t know about that,” he said without wasting a breath. He claimed that his sons and family “are handling that,” not him. Dismissing the question, he simply suggested that the company gets investments from “different people.” As if selling 49% shares is just a regular everyday thing. But before anyone could counter question, he rapidly pivoted away from the specifics.
Within seconds, he moved the conversation to Iran, Russia, Ukraine, artificial intelligence, and China. Trump explained that he knows nothing other than that he’s “a big crypto person.” Then, Trump being Trump, he began boasting about himself:
I’m the one that probably helped crypto more than anybody because I believe in it. And the reason I believe in it is because if we don’t do it, then China is going to do it.
The only thing he did not talk about was the question he was asked.
What is the crypto deal that Trump claims not to know about?
The reporting Trump brushed off is unusually detailed. According to the Journal, a UAE-linked firm associated with Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to purchase approximately 49% of World Liberty Financial for $500 million. The agreement was reportedly signed on the Trump side by Eric Trump (via Bloomberg)
The size of the stake alone effectively sets a major valuation for the business. This was not a minor passive investment. It was a near-controlling stake, executed days before Trump reassumed the presidency. But Trump’s defense relies on a familiar refrain: separation by proxy. His family handles the business. He’s focused on geopolitics.
Therefore, he suggests, there’s nothing to see. But that argument collapses under minimal scrutiny. The company bears his brand and benefits from his public advocacy for crypto. In fact, it has already delivered substantial financial upside to Trump-linked entities.
So, claiming ignorance is not the same as establishing distance. When Trump says he “doesn’t know about that,” he is not disputing the facts. He is declining responsibility for them. And that’s where the bribe allegations stemmed.
Why the crypto deal is being called a “bribe”
No credible outlet has claimed to have evidence of a direct quid pro quo. But you usually never find them anyway. So, the concern is structural. A foreign government–linked figure invested an extraordinary sum into a company tied to the sitting U.S. president’s family. More importantly, they do it immediately before that president took office. Months later, the administration made major policy decisions affecting the UAE.
Even if no explicit trade can be proven, the arrangement creates a conflict of interest that cannot be audited away by saying “my sons did it.” Several democratic lawmakers have pointed to the Foreign Emoluments Clause and described the deal as corruption in plain sight. Despite that, the White House and World Liberty Financial deny wrongdoing. And it’s convenient, because the public can never verify that.
Trump’s China pivot is the solution to every difficult question
Trump also used his usual rhetorical escape hatch to sway away from the question. He reframed the issue as a civilizational struggle with China. Crypto, he said, is like AI: America must lead, or China will. This move brilliantly recasts personal financial entanglement as patriotic strategy. If the investment is about “beating China,” then scrutinizing it sounds un-American. It’s a neat trick. It also avoids the point entirely.
Trump did not explain why a UAE royal needed to buy nearly half of his family’s crypto company. He did not address the timing or clarify whether any of the money benefited him directly. He also did not deny that his family profited. Instead, he played dumb and went global. And somewhere between this and that, the original question was buried away.
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