Donald Trump has been accused of “corruption, plain and simple” after it emerged that a member of the Emirati royal family invested $500m in a Trump family cryptocurrency company days before the president’s inauguration. Ethics experts say the deal represents a deep conflict of interest, raising questions about subsequent US policy decisions favouring the United Arab Emirates.
The investment, backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan – brother of the UAE president and national security adviser – was made through Aryam Investment. Documents show $187m went to Trump entities and $31m to Steve Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial and Trump’s Middle East envoy. The deal was struck four days before Trump took office in January 2025.
Months later, the Trump administration allowed the UAE to import 500,000 Nvidia AI chips, overriding concerns about potential Chinese access. Donald Sherman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called it a “blatant, disgraceful conflict of interest” and a possible violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which bars foreign gifts to officials.
A White House official insisted Trump is “not involved in running his businesses”, calling the claims “bogus and irrelevant”. White House counsel David Warrington added that Trump’s conduct is “ethically sound”. However, ethics experts note Trump handed control to his sons rather than a blind trust, and has expanded his business empire into crypto, social media and other ventures.
Kedric Payne of the Campaign Legal Center said the situation is “beyond unprecedented and unimaginable”, noting no modern president has had such international business entanglements. Trump met Tahnoon multiple times after returning to office, including a White House dinner in March. In May, World Liberty announced a $2bn investment from UAE’s MGX into Binance, followed by the Nvidia chip deal.
