Two U.S. senators are asking Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to determine whether a $500 million UAE investment in the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture requires a formal national security review.
The request adds a new front to growing congressional scrutiny of World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and its ties to a senior Emirati royal with interests in American AI technology.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), both members of the Senate Banking Committee, sent the letter on Friday, according to Reuters.
What Happened
Warren and Kim asked Bessent, who chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, to decide whether the deal warrants a CFIUS review - and if so, to conduct what they called a comprehensive and unbiased investigation. They gave him a March 5 deadline.
The underlying transaction, first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Feb. 1, involved an Abu Dhabi investment vehicle called Aryam Investment acquiring a 49% equity stake in World Liberty Financial.
The deal was signed on Jan. 16, 2025 - four days before Donald Trump's second inauguration. Eric Trump signed on behalf of the family, according to documents reviewed by the Journal.
Aryam is backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security adviser, brother of its president, and chairman of AI firm G42. Two G42 executives received seats on World Liberty Financial's five-member board as part of the agreement.
Of the upfront payment, $187 million went to Trump family entities and at least $31 million to entities tied to the family of Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy and a World Liberty co-founder, the Journal reported.
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Why It Matters
The senators' concern centers on timing. Months after the stake was acquired, the Trump administration approved the sale of roughly 500,000 advanced AI chips per year to the UAE, with about a fifth allocated to G42.
Under the Biden administration, chip access for G42 had been restricted due to U.S. intelligence warnings about the firm's past ties to Chinese technology companies.
Warren and Kim wrote that CFIUS has a "clear mandate" to address risks from foreign investments that could give governments access to critical technology or sensitive personal data of American citizens. World Liberty Financial collects user data and operates USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by U.S. Treasuries.
A World Liberty Financial spokesperson told CNN that neither President Trump nor Witkoff had involvement in the transaction, and denied any connection between the deal and AI chip policy.
The letter follows a separate House investigation launched on Feb. 5 seeking ownership records and payment trails from World Liberty Financial. Whether CFIUS - which operates under Bessent's authority but reports to a president with a direct financial interest in the outcome - will act remains an open question.
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