Five Senate Democrats sent letters to congressional committees on June 24 demanding hearings on a $500 million Abu Dhabi investment in President Trump's World Liberty Financial crypto venture and whether the deal preceded a series of U.S. policy concessions to the UAE.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Richard Durbin, and Ron Wyden wrote to Senate committee leaders asking officials to testify "under oath what they knew and when" about payments made through the arrangement, per CoinDesk. The senators said they are "deeply concerned about this series of events, which raise questions about what more the UAE may receive," The Block reported. The letters come as Congress moves toward votes on crypto legislation already complicated by conflict-of-interest questions over Trump's digital-asset holdings.
The deal
UAE-linked investors acquired a 49% stake in WLF for $500 million. Of that, $218 million in upfront payments went to entities linked to Trump's family and Steve Witkoff, CoinDesk reported. Eric Trump signed the agreement four days before Trump's January 2025 inauguration, The Block reported.
Policy moves the senators flag
The senators' letters trace what they describe as favorable treatment that followed. In May 2025, the administration approved $1.4 billion in arms sales to the UAE despite congressional objections. The Commerce Department cleared 35,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips, valued at over $1 billion, for UAE AI firm G42, overriding national security restrictions previously imposed over G42's alleged role in advancing China's missile program. In April 2025, the Department of Justice disbanded its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, Fortune reported. The senators include that move among the policy shifts they want officials to explain under oath, per CoinDesk.
None of those moves is established as a quid pro quo. The letters are a formal demand for hearings, not a finding of wrongdoing.
Trump said he was unaware of the $500 million investment and is not involved in day-to-day WLF operations, per The Block. Whether Republican-majority committees schedule the requested hearings remains open. Democrats say placing administration officials on the record is the minimum needed to assess whether policy decisions tied to the UAE were made in the public interest, and to set the terms for the conflict-of-interest provisions they are pushing to include in final crypto legislation.
