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Inside secret crypto deal between Abu Dhabi ‘Spy Sheikh’ and Trump-linked firm 4 days before US President's inauguration
As per the deal, the buyers would pay half upfront, leading $187 million to Trump family entities, and the agreement was signed by the president’s son.
Four days before US President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2025, lieutenants to the Abu Dhabi royal “spy sheikh” signed a deal with the American president’s family to purchase a 49 per cent stake in their growing cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars, a new report said, citing company documents and people familiar with the matter.
As per the deal with World Liberty Financial, the buyers would pay half upfront, leading $187 million to Trump family entities, and the agreement was signed by the president’s son, Eric Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported. What is worth noting about the deal is that a foreign government official assumed a major ownership stake in an incoming US president’s venture.
Who is ‘Spy Sheikh’?
The Abu Dhabi royal behind the deal is Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has been demanding access from the US to protected artificial intelligence chips, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Tahnoon, who is sometimes referred to as the “spy sheikh”, is the brother of the president of the United Arab Emirates and serves as the UAE government’s national security adviser, as well as the head of the country’s largest wealth fund.
Notably, he is responsible for overseeing a more than $1.3 trillion empire that is funded by his personal wealth and government funds. Tahnoon is one of the most powerful single investors in the world.
How was the deal made?
Trump’s re-entry to the office made way for “Spy Sheikh” to get the AI hardware that he was not able to during the Joe Biden-led administration.
After Trump’s election, Tahnoon held several meetings with Trump and US envoy Steve Witkoff, including a visit to the White House. During that visit, he said he was keen to work with Washington on artificial intelligence and other areas, the report said.
Two months after the March meeting, the administration agreed to give the small Gulf state access to about 500,000 advanced AI chips each year. This amount would be enough to build one of the world’s largest AI data centre networks. Under the framework agreement, around one-fifth of the chips were set to go to G42, The Journal had reported earlier.
Aryam Investment
Of the first $250 million payment from the Tahnoon-backed firm called Aryam Investment 1, $187 million went to Trump family-linked companies DT Marks DEFI LLC and DT Marks SC LLC, according to the documents.
Along with the payment to the Witkoff family-linked entities, another $31 million was sent to a company connected to co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro.
The agreement would make Aryam the biggest shareholder in World Liberty and its only known investor outside the founders. The deal also placed two Aryam executives, who held senior roles at Tahnoon’s G42, on World Liberty’s five-member board. At the time, the board included Eric Trump and Zach Witkoff, the son of Steve Witkoff, the documents said.
On January 16, 2025, representatives of Aryam signed the $500 million agreement with Trump and Witkoff’s company, World Liberty.
On Trump’s first full day in office, five days after Aryam completed its deal with World Liberty, the president announced plans at the White House for a $500 billion, AI-focused data centre project involving OpenAI and SoftBank. Tahnoon’s MGX was named as one of two additional investors.
On May 8, the treasury department said it was starting a fast-track pilot scheme for foreign investors. This was the quicker review process that the UAE had been seeking.
During Trump’s visit to Abu Dhabi later that month, he announced that the two countries had reached a “very big contract” for the UAE to purchase US-made AI chips. After further talks, the Trump administration later approved the sale of 35,000 chips to G42, which was fewer than the UAE had wanted.
What people said about the deal
A person familiar with Tahnoon’s investment told the Journal that the sheikh and his team studied World Liberty’s plans for “a number of months” before he and “a few co-investors” completed their investment. The person said the funding did not come from G42. “At no time during that due diligence or thereafter was the investment discussed with President Trump,” the source said. The person added that Tahnoon is a “significant investor” in cryptocurrency companies.
“President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. She added that Trump’s assets are held in a trust managed by his children and said there are “no conflicts of interest”. Kelly also said Witkoff is working to “advance President Trump’s goals of peace around the world”.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization said the company “takes its ethical obligations extremely seriously and is deeply committed to preventing conflicts of interest,” and that it follows all applicable laws, as per the report.
