Senate Dems demand hearings on $500M Trump-family crypto deal with UAE royal 🪙

Five US Senate Democrats are pressing Republican leaders to convene hearings and compel Trump administration officials to testify under oath about a reported $500 million crypto deal between the Trump family and Abu Dhabi royalty. In a letter sent Tuesday, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Dick Durbin and Ron Wyden told the GOP, which controls the chamber and its committees, to "immediately hold hearings" into the arrangement. The Wall Street Journal reported in January that an Abu Dhabi investment company backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' national security adviser, signed a deal in January 2025 to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, the crypto platform tied to US President Donald Trump.

The lawmakers pointed to a subsequent May 2025 Trump administration agreement covering arms and artificial intelligence chips with the UAE, which they said moved forward "despite concerns raised by US national security officials that China could access the chips." President Trump has said he was not aware of the World Liberty Financial deal. The senators wrote that they are "deeply concerned about this series of events, which raise questions about what more the UAE may receive — or may have already received — at the expense of US national security after investing in the Trump family crypto company," adding that "Congress has a responsibility to investigate the details of the reported investment and whether it influenced subsequent actions by President Trump and the Trump Administration."

The letter also flags the Trump administration's "steps to weaken enforcement," including exempting crypto service providers from financial services regulations and disbanding the Justice Department's crypto enforcement team. Warren previously called for an investigation into the UAE transaction in February, asking Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to determine whether the deal should be subject to a Committee on Foreign Investment review. Earlier this year, Democrats also pressed Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins over the agency's decision to drop a fraud case against Justin Sun, a major World Liberty Financial backer.

In a separate action in May, Democratic Senator Peter Welch and Representative Dave Min launched a probe into Trump's pardons, including the pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao. That pardon followed Binance's acceptance of a $2 billion investment. Both critics and supporters of the president have raised concerns about the perceived conflict of interest presented by the Trump family's crypto interests as the administration pursues deregulation of the sector.