Warren, Kim push scrutiny of UAE’s $500M investment in WLFI

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Andy Kim have both called for a review into the $500 million stake made in the Trump-linked crypto project World Liberty Financial by a UAE government-linked entity. The democratic Senators issued a letter to that effect to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to look into the issue.

According to the letter, the Senators want Bessent to evaluate whether the reported stake in the Trump-linked project warrants a national security review. The Senators, who are both members of the Senate Banking Committee, asked Bessent to determine whether the Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) should look into the deal, per the letter. CFIUS is an interagency panel overseen by the Treasury that looks into foreign investments for national security risks.

Senators Warren and Kim want to review UAE stake in WLFI

The deal was reported by the Wall Street Journal last month. The news outlet mentioned that G42, a company backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security adviser and manager of the largest sovereign wealth fund in the UAE, acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial days before the second inauguration of Trump in January 2025. The deal was executed through an entity called Aryam Investment 1 and was signed by Eric Trump.

The deal required an upfront payment of $250 million, with about $187 million of the entire figure directed towards Trump family entities and at least $31 million to firms affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East and a co-founder of World Liberty Financial, the report said. President Trump has denied knowledge of the investment. “My sons are handling that, my family is handling it … I have all I can handle right now with Iran and with Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said to reporters.

In the letter, the Senators asked whether CFIUS had already reviewed the transaction and made any recommendations to the president about it. They noted that the CFIUS should have been mandated to review transactions that could give foreign governments access to sensitive technology or personal data. The letter pointed to the fact that World Liberty Financial says it collects personal information from users, questioning whether the UAE or China could gain access to the data.

Probes trail UAE’s $500 million stake in WLFI

The letter also mentioned that the deal would see WLFI give up two board seats to senior executives who hold key positions at G42. The Senators also cited longstanding United States intelligence warnings that G42 may have been involved in the provision of technology to assist China’s military. The company was accused of developing a surveillance app that was developed as a messaging app. In addition, G42 has faced scrutiny over its ties to Chinese firms, including Huawei and Beijing Genomics Institute.

However, the company said it had divested from the Chinese companies since early 2024. The CFIUS request adds to a growing list of probes that have been sought since the deal was announced. Last week, Rep. Ro Khanna, ranking member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with China, launched an investigation demanding documents and answers from WLFI co-founder Zach Witkoff by March 1.

In the letter, Khanna focused on whether the investment may have influenced US export policy on advanced AI chips after the Trump administration approved a plan to give the UAE access to 500,000 of the most advanced AI chips per year. Bessent has also been grilled over WLFI at a House Financial Services Committee hearing last week, where he was asked to pause a pending Banking charter application tied to the firm. Senators Warren and Kim have given Bessent until March to respond to their letter.

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