President Donald Trump is continuing to blur the lines between the federal government and his private businesses as his family rolls out its latest cryptocurrency project.
The New York Times reported that Trump's son, Eric, recently appeared at a conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alongside Zach Witkoff, who is a co-founder of the Trump family's World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency company. The two announced that the government of Abu Dhabi (the capital city of the UAE) was investing $2 billion into the Binance cryptocurrency exchange — the largest crypto market by volume — using a so-called "stablecoin" (a cryptocurrency designed to have a constant value close to $1) developed by the Trump family's company.
According to the Times, that deal is likely to net the Trump family a profit in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The Times' David Yaffe-Bellany wrote that World Liberty's work has "created conflicts of interest with no precedent in modern U.S. history" given the amount of foreign investors typically barred from making conventional political contributions chipping in large sums of money.
READ MORE: The Emmys take a shot at Trump with an eye-popping nomination
Justin Sun — a Chinese-born billionaire who runs the TRON cryptocurrency exchange — is a top investor in World Liberty. After Trump was elected, he bought $75 million worth of World Liberty's $WLFI coins. That purchase came after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused him of manipulating one of TRON's cryptocurrencies. The Times reported that the SEC then asked a judge to pause the investigation into Sun after Trump was reelected last year.
“I just got to thank you for the support, Justin,” Witkoff said during the Dubai conference. “TRON is just an incredible technology, and we’re lucky to be partners with you.”
Some of these investors and companies also have significant baggage in the form of criminal charges and convictions. In 2023, the Binance exchange pleaded guilty to charges that it had knowingly allowed criminals to do business on its platform. Its founder, Changpeng Zhao, is reportedly seeking a presidential pardon from Trump after pleading guilty to money laundering charges and serving a four-month federal prison sentence.
The World Liberty stablecoin is a separate venture from the $TRUMP "memecoin," which grew significantly in market cap after he began his second term. Trump has since offered a private dinner opportunity to some of his biggest memecoin investors.
READ MORE: BUSTED: Audio recording undermines top Republican's sworn denial of threats
Click here to read the Times' full report (subscription required).