WSJ Investigation: UAE Royal's $500 Million Stake in Trump Firm Preceded AI Chip Access Approval
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
A detailed investigation by The Wall Street Journal has uncovered a complex financial and diplomatic sequence involving the United Arab Emirates and the Trump administration. The report centers on a $500 million investment by UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan for a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company co-founded by Trump ally Steve Witkoff. The deal was signed by Eric Trump four days before his father's second-term inauguration.
According to the Journal, the investment raised immediate questions, as World Liberty Financial had no products at the time and its sole revenue stream came from a token sale from which the Sheikh's entity was excluded. The transaction also included at least $31 million directed to entities affiliated with Witkoff's family. Weeks prior to the investment, Witkoff had been named U.S. envoy to the Middle East.
The report draws a direct line between this financial arrangement and a subsequent major policy shift. Early in Trump's second term, longstanding national security objections to selling advanced AI chips to the UAE were overturned. Sheikh Tahnoon, who manages a fund with over $1.3 trillion in assets and has significant AI interests through companies like G42, subsequently gained access to approximately 500,000 of the most advanced AI chips annually—a capacity enabling one of the world's largest AI data center clusters.
This reversal occurred despite documented concerns within the U.S. intelligence community regarding G42's past ties to Chinese firms like Huawei. The Biden administration had previously restricted such exports over fears of technology diversion to China.
"The timing, scale, and policy outcome create a perception problem of the highest order," said David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Obama. "In any other administration, this would dominate the news cycle for weeks. The central question is whether a foreign power sought to buy influence over a critical technology policy, and what was given in return."
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) echoed the sentiment, stating the report revealed "mind-blowing corruption" where "secret payments" preceded a major national security decision.
Reaction & Analysis
Mark Chen, Foreign Policy Analyst at the Brookings Institution: "This isn't just about a single deal. It tests the integrity of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process and the firewall between private financial interests and national security policy. The UAE, while an ally, has pursued a hedging strategy between the U.S. and China, particularly in technology. This report suggests those geopolitical tensions are now playing out in the domestic financial dealings of a U.S. president's family."
Sarah Jenkins, Small Business Owner in Ohio: "I'm tired of the headlines. It's always something with one side or the other. But this... half a billion dollars right before taking office? And then a policy change that helps the guy who paid? It smells. It doesn't matter what letter is after your name, that's just wrong. It makes regular people feel like the whole game is rigged for the powerful."
Robert Gaines, Former GOP Strategist: "The media is predictably framing this as a scandal before all facts are known. Strategic investment and aligned policy with a key Gulf ally is not corruption; it's statecraft. The Biden administration's obstruction on AI chips weakened our partners and pushed them toward China. Correcting that was a strategic necessity, not a quid pro quo."
Anya Petrova, Investigative Journalist: "The most alarming detail is the sheer opacity. A $500 million investment into a company with no products, structured to avoid its only revenue stream? That's not an investment in a business; it's a vehicle. The WSJ has laid out the timeline. It's now incumbent upon Congress to subpoena documents and testimony to determine if this was a coincidence or a coordinated influence operation."
This report is based on an investigation originally published by The Wall Street Journal.