Column By Max Powers
Four days before his 2025 inauguration, 49% of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, was sold for $500 million to an entity linked to a senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) official, according to reports in early February 2026.
- The Buyer: The stake was purchased by lieutenants of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and a key member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.
- The Deal Details: The deal involved a $500 million investment into World Liberty Financial, with $187 million going to Trump family entities and at least $31 million to entities affiliated with Steve Witkoff, a Trump ally.
- Significance: The transaction occurred just before Donald Trump took office, raising significant questions regarding conflicts of interest.
- Impact: Following this investment, the Trump administration reportedly permitted the UAE to access advanced AI chips.
Eric Trump signed the deal.
Trump has filed for bankruptcy several times and was in financial distress before entering the White House.
Before President Donald Trump’s first term, he was in a “tight spot” financially, according to New Yorker writer David Kirkpatrick. At the start of his second term, David says, Trump was in an “even tighter” spot. But after just six months into his second term, Trump’s financial situation started looking really good.
Kirkpatrick said Trump and his family have made almost $4 billion “off of the presidency,” in just about a year.
That’s more than 100 times the salaries of every president we’ve ever had, even if they were all paid the current rate.
Donald Trump also recently sued the IRS for $10 billion because his income taxes (which he pays less than a janitor) were leaked. Odd that he would be so upset about people learning he pays little to no taxes, given that he was such a horrible businessman. Trump acknowledged it might look bad to pay himself, so he told Fox Business that he was considering settling and donating the money to charity, saying, “Nobody would care because it’s going to go to numerous very good charities.” The problem with Donald Trump and charitable donations is that the only charity that gets them is himself.
Donald Trump has a history of misusing charitable funds and, in November 2019, was ordered to pay nearly $2 million in damages to settle claims that the Trump Foundation misused funds from a televised veterans’ fundraiser hosted by Trump.
According to court documents, the Trump Foundation improperly used $2.82 million it received from that fundraiser.
Before that, the Trump Foundation had agreed to dissolve the previous December after facing an investigation into improper political activities and “repeated and willful self-dealing transactions.”
So, yes, we should stop the fraud and whatever low-level grifting is going on with government contracts in Minnesota, but don’t stop there. In fact, don’t start there; start at the top, where the biggest theft from American taxpayers is happening.
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
