UAE ‘spy sheikh’ takes 49% stake in Trump family’s bank venture: WSJ

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' national security advisor and brother of the country's president, holds a 49% stake alongside co-investors in the holding company that World Liberty Financial created to pursue a bank charter, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.

The disclosure follows the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's preliminary approval, granted a few weeks ago, for World Liberty Trust Company, National Association to operate as a national trust bank. Earlier this year WLF set up the trust company to seek an OCC banking license, saying the entity would support stablecoin issuance and redemption, on- and off-ramp services, and custody and conversion. WLF issues a stablecoin, USD1, which carries a market capitalization of $4 billion and ranks fourth among stablecoins behind Tether and USDC.

According to the Journal, the holding company is named WLTC Holdings, while Sheikh Tahnoon and the other investors hold their interest through a separate vehicle called StringZ Holding RSC.

White House rejects conflict concerns

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly pushed back on questions about the arrangement, saying there were "no conflicts of interest." In an emailed statement to The Block, Kelly said the president "only acts in the best interests of the American public," adding that voters re-elected him despite what she described as years of false accusations against him and his businesses.

Trump has faced sustained criticism over potential conflicts of interest. Earlier reporting by the Journal found that an investment vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon quietly acquired a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million just days before the president's inauguration. Senate Democrats have urged Republican leadership to hold hearings on the matter, and House Democrats have also drawn attention to it. In February, Representative Ro Khanna opened an investigation into money flowing to WLF from the UAE royal family.