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President Donald Trump made nearly half a billion dollars mere days before his second inauguration as president. As per a report on Sunday by The Wall Street Journal, an investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates acquired nearly half of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency company, a $500 million stake, four days before President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
The Journal reported that the deal, signed by the president’s son Eric Trump, gave the Emirati-backed firm a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, the Trump-linked crypto venture co-founded by family members of the president and Steve Witkoff, his top envoy to the Middle East.
“President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public – which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media. President Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children. There are no conflicts of interest,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement Sunday.
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“Mr. Witkoff, like all Administration officials, takes seriously his compliance with the government ethics rules. As Special Envoy for Peace Missions, he has not and does not participate in any official matters that could impact his financial interests. He has also divested from World Liberty Financial, notwithstanding his ability and willingness to recuse,” White House counsel David Warrington told CNN in a statement.
A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial confirmed the investment to CNN on Sunday, stressing that neither Trump nor Witkoff was involved in the transaction.
“Neither President Trump nor Steve Witkoff had any involvement whatsoever in this transaction and have had no involvement in World Liberty Financial since taking office,” the spokesperson, David Wachsman, told CNN in a statement.
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Taken together, these developments underscore the persistent ethical and political questions that arise when the financial interests of powerful individuals intersect with public office. Even when legal safeguards such as asset trusts, divestment, and recusal are in place, high-value transactions linked to close family members or associates can raise concerns about transparency, influence, and public perception. In an era of heightened scrutiny, the timing and scale of such deals often become as significant as their legality.
When these industries intersect with political authority, they amplify debates around governance, accountability, and the adequacy of existing ethics frameworks. Public confidence in institutions increasingly depends not only on adherence to formal rules, but on whether actions align with widely held expectations of integrity.