Originally published by Decrypt on November 9, 2026, at 19:26:27 UTC+08:00.
President Donald Trump said he knows “nothing” about World Liberty Financial while defending his family’s stake in the crypto venture during an interview after the previous week’s midterm elections, according to Decrypt’s report.
The central tension is between that claim of distance and the financial interests documented in the company’s disclosures. Those interests do not, by themselves, establish wrongdoing. But Trump’s answers did not resolve questions about how foreign investment in the venture intersects with his presidency.
Trump’s defense: his sons run the business
Columnist Ross Douthat asked Trump why his co-ownership of a company partly owned by investors linked to the United Arab Emirates government differed from an arrangement he would call corrupt if it involved the Biden family.
“Because I know nothing about it,” Trump replied, according to a transcript published by CBS News.
Asked why he did not divest, Trump said Wall Street firms manage most of his money through index funds and that his sons run the family business.
“It’s hard to say to them, ‘Don’t do anything anymore for four years because I’m president,’” he said.
When Douthat asked whether foreign investors believed they were buying influence, Trump answered: “I don’t know.” He argued that presidential conflicts of interest stretch back to George Washington, saying, “There’s crypto, and before that there was oil,” and that “every president has had this problem.”
The UAE deal and the limits of the evidence
Eric Trump announced World Liberty Financial in August 2024. The venture issues the WLFI governance token and USD1 stablecoin. In January 2026, it launched World Liberty Markets, a lending and borrowing platform built on the DeFi protocol Dolomite.
Its UAE connections have drawn scrutiny from Democrats. According to Decrypt’s February reporting, which cited The Wall Street Journal, Aryam Investment—a UAE-backed entity tied to national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed—agreed to buy a 49% stake for $500 million four days before Trump’s January 2025 inauguration.
Eric Trump signed the agreement on World Liberty’s behalf. The transaction reportedly preceded the administration’s reversal of restrictions on advanced AI chip sales to the UAE. That reported sequence does not, on its own, establish that the investment caused the policy change.
ABC News reported that a World Liberty spokesperson said neither Trump nor his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, had “any involvement whatsoever” in the transaction. Trump has previously said he was unaware of the deal.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) described the arrangement in February as “potentially criminal conduct.” That was Murphy’s characterization, not an established legal finding.
What the ownership disclosures show
According to World Liberty’s disclosures, DT Marks DEFI LLC, an entity affiliated with Trump and certain family members:
- Owns about 38% of the holding company behind World Liberty Financial.
- Holds 22.5 billion WLFI tokens.
- Is entitled to 75% of net proceeds from WLFI token sales.
A separate Trump-affiliated entity has an indirect claim on interest earned on the reserves backing USD1.
The disclosures also state that no Trump family member is an officer, director or employee of World Liberty. Decrypt nevertheless reported earlier in 2026 that Trump’s sons remained involved with the company. Formal management titles and financial exposure are distinct questions; the absence of the former does not erase the disclosed economic interests.
A separate dispute over ownership disclosure
World Liberty’s UAE ownership has also become an issue in its legal battle with Tron founder Justin Sun. Sun’s lawyers asked a federal court to sanction the company, alleging that it delayed disclosing UAE ownership that could defeat federal jurisdiction over his lawsuit.
World Liberty called Sun’s legal campaign a “meritless PR stunt.” The supplied report does not establish a court finding on those allegations.
The documented picture is therefore narrower than either a blanket denial of conflicts or a conclusion of proven misconduct: substantial family-linked financial interests, a reported UAE-backed investment, denials of presidential involvement in that transaction, and unresolved questions about influence.