Letter to Commerce Inspector General demands probe into whether UAE investment in Trump's crypto venture influenced Commerce Department's reversal on semiconductor export controls

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Platkin LLP and Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) today sent a formal letter to the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce demanding an immediate investigation into whether the Trump Administration approved the export of advanced AI chips to G42, a state-backed UAE company, in exchange for a $500 million investment in the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial.

The letter details how agents of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan—the UAE’s top national security official, brother of UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Chairman of G42—signed an undisclosed deal days before President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 to purchase a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million. About 75 percent of an upfront payment of $250 million was directed to entities co-owned by President Trump and his family members, resulting in an estimated $187 million windfall.

“These crypto transactions are deeply troubling, not only because of the scale of the payments involved, but because of what followed,” said Matthew Platkin, Partner at Platkin LLP and Former New Jersey Attorney General. “If a foreign government official channels hundreds of millions of dollars into a president’s private business, and then the administration reverses established national security safeguards to benefit that same foreign entity, it raises serious concerns that policy is being driven not by what best serves the American people but by what enriches the president. Transparency and the rule of law are not optional here, especially where billions of dollars and sensitive technology are at stake.”

The letter documents a broad pattern of suspicious foreign transactions connected to World Liberty Financial, including a $2 billion investment by another Tahnoon-backed entity, MGX, in the Binance crypto exchange. Investors settled the transaction using USD1, World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin, which grew the coin’s market cap from $127 million to more than $2 billion in a matter of months. These transactions are alleged to be part of a series of questionable foreign investments that benefitted the Trump family’s finances while generating favorable regulatory and policy treatment from the administration.

The export of the chips is particularly alarming given that government officials identified G42 as a security risk prior to the second Trump administration. In fact, before President Trump’s second term, the Commerce Department had imposed strict AI chip export controls to prevent advanced semiconductors from reaching China via Middle Eastern intermediaries. Despite objections from U.S. officials who warned that the deal could enhance China’s military capabilities, the Trump Administration’s Commerce Department reversed course in November 2025, finalizing a deal to send cutting-edge AI technology directly to G42.

“This reversal demands scrutiny given Tahnoon’s previously undisclosed financial entanglement with the Trump family,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.) , co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “The American people deserve answers. The Inspector General must investigate whether the Commerce Department’s decision was driven by what is good for our national security or by what was good for the Trump family’s bottom line.”

The letter argues that these arrangements may represent the most profound Foreign Emoluments Clause violation in U.S. history, with estimates suggesting that crypto-related activities are a major reason  President Trump’s net worth jumped from $4.3 billion in 2024 to $7.3 billion just eight months into his second term. DDF and Platkin LLP are urging the Inspector General to investigate three key questions: whether Commerce officials knew of Tahnoon’s World Liberty Financial investment when evaluating the chip export; who overrode the national security hold on the deal and on what basis; and whether President Trump or White House officials directly influenced the Commerce Department’s decision.

Read the letter to the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Commerce

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Platkin LLP is a mission-driven law firm founded by former New Jersey Attorney General (AG) Matthew Platkin and a talented team of litigators from the AG’s office.

Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.