Lawsuit accuses Trump of illegally profiting off foreign crypto deals
"We're suing to stop the corruption and to force President Trump to return the profits to American taxpayers," attorney Matt Pelikan told CNBC.
Key points
- A federal lawsuit filed Thursday accuses President Donald Trump and his family's crypto company of illegally profiting from more than $2 billion in foreign crypto deals.
- The suit centers on a $500 million stake bought by an entity backed by UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and a $2 billion stablecoin purchase by an Abu Dhabi fund he chairs.
- The complaint alleges violations of the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause and seeks to force Trump to return any illegal profits to taxpayers.
A lawsuit filed Thursday accuses President Donald Trump and his family's crypto company, World Liberty Financial, of "corruptly profiting" off more than $2 billion in digital currency deals in violation of constitutional limits on foreign money. The federal civil complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington by J. Benjamin Greenberg, a shareholder and former employee of the publicly traded crypto company Circle Internet Group, a competitor of the Trump family business.
The suit focuses on two alleged "illegal foreign emoluments" involving World Liberty and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, national security advisor to the United Arab Emirates. It names Trump, World Liberty and U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff as defendants, along with four related limited liability companies.
The deals at issue
According to the complaint, an entity backed by Tahnoon agreed days before Trump's January 2025 inauguration to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million. World Liberty told The Wall Street Journal, which revealed the transaction in January 2026, that Trump had no involvement in the deal, but his financial disclosures indicate he would receive millions of dollars from the purchase after becoming president.
The lawsuit also cites a "scheme" by an Abu Dhabi-based investment fund chaired by Tahnoon to "inflate the value of President Trump's crypto holdings" through last year's purchase of $2 billion in World Liberty's stablecoin, USD1. Greenberg seeks a court declaration that the profits violate the Constitution, disclosure of any other foreign crypto emoluments, and the return of profits found to be illegal.
No president in American history has profited from his office so brazenly
— the federal civil complaint
Responses to the lawsuit
Matt Pelikan, an attorney at Evergreen Legal, said in a statement to CNBC that Trump "made millions from these deals by selling out the American people" and that the suit aims to stop the corruption. Circle said it did not initiate or participate in the filing, and World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman said the company complies with all U.S. laws and that the claims are "without merit." The White House and a Witkoff spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.
