A new federal lawsuit accuses President Donald Trump and his family’s crypto venture of turning foreign money into personal crypto profit, alleging violations of the Constitution’s ban on emoluments. The complaint targets more than $2 billion in UAE-linked deals.
What the lawsuit alleges about World Liberty Financial’s UAE deals
J. Benjamin Greenberg, a shareholder and former employee of Circle Internet Group, filed the civil complaint on October 22 in the U.S. District Court in Washington. He brings the case derivatively on behalf of Circle, a publicly traded crypto firm that competes with World Liberty Financial, the Trump family business.
The complaint identifies two foreign payments involving Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security advisor. First, an entity backed by Tahnoon agreed to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million just before Trump’s January 2025 inauguration. Though the company told The Wall Street Journal that Trump played no role in the transaction, his financial disclosures indicate he would collect millions from the sale once in office.
Second, the suit describes a “scheme” in which an Abu Dhabi investment fund chaired by Tahnoon spent $2 billion on World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin to “inflate the value of President Trump’s crypto holdings.” Greenberg argues both arrangements violate the Foreign Emoluments Clause, which bars federal officeholders from accepting foreign money without congressional consent.
The defendants, Trump, World Liberty, and U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, plus four related LLCs, reject the claims. World Liberty counsel Bill Burck dismissed the filing as “more like a partisan press release than a lawsuit.” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly called it “yet another frivolous lawsuit” and insisted there are “no conflicts of interest” (via CNBC).
However, Greenberg’s attorney, Matt Pelikan, framed the case differently: “What President Trump did is brazenly corrupt. He’s made millions from these deals by selling out the American people.” The suit seeks a court declaration that the crypto profit violates the Constitution and demands Trump return any illegal gains to taxpayers.
Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure reported over $1.4 billion in crypto income, including nearly $800 million from World Liberty. The case also draws attention to expanded UAE access to advanced U.S. AI chips granted months after Tahnoon’s investment.
