A shareholder of Circle Internet Group filed a federal lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial of violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause. The suit centers on deals with a UAE national security advisor. World Liberty calls the claims without merit.
A lawsuit filed Thursday accuses Trump and his family's crypto company, World Liberty Financial, of profiting corruptly from more than $2 billion in digital currency-related deals. The complaint says the deals violate constitutional restrictions on accepting foreign money.
Who is suing and over what
J. Benjamin Greenberg, a shareholder and former Circle employee, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Washington. It centers on two allegedly illegal foreign emoluments involving World Liberty and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the national security advisor to the United Arab Emirates. According to the complaint: "No president in American history has profited from his office so brazenly".
The first deal dates to the days before Trump's inauguration in January 2025. An entity backed by Tahnoon agreed to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million. The company told The Wall Street Journal that Trump had no involvement in the deal, but Trump would receive millions of dollars from the purchase after becoming president, according to his financial disclosures.
Another claim centers on an Abu Dhabi-based investment fund chaired by Tahnoon. The suit alleges the fund sought to inflate the value of Trump's crypto holdings through last year's purchase of $2 billion in World Liberty's stablecoin, USD1.
Defendants respond
The suit names Trump, World Liberty, U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and four related limited liability companies as defendants. World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman told CNBC the company is compliant with all U.S. laws and regulations and that the claims are without merit. The White House and a spokesperson for Witkoff did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.
Circle said in a statement that it did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing. The suit says Greenberg is filing derivatively on Circle's behalf.
What the suit seeks
Greenberg wants a court declaration that Trump's profits violate the Constitution. He also wants the president to disclose all other foreign crypto emoluments he has received and return any profits found to be illegal.
Separately, U.S. lawmakers have sought information about the UAE dealings and signaled that Trump family business transactions could face further investigation if Democrats gain subpoena power in Congress in the 2026 midterm election.
Source: CNBC
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