Trump sued over alleged constitutional violations in UAE crypto deals

Circle Internet Group shareholder J. Benjamin Greenberg sued President Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial on Thursday, alleging the president violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution in two crypto deals with the United Arab Emirates, according to Bloomberg.

Greenberg, a former Circle employee, filed the complaint in federal court in Washington, according to CNBC. The clause prohibits federal officeholders from taking money from foreign governments unless Congress has signed off.

At issue in the complaint is a $500 million deal for 49% of World Liberty, bought by an entity backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security advisor. It also challenges a $2 billion buy of World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin by an Abu Dhabi investment fund that Tahnoon chairs. Greenberg alleges the two transactions violated U.S. law, and says Trump benefited from foreign-government payments totaling upward of $2 billion.

The suit lists as defendants Trump, World Liberty, U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and four affiliated LLCs. Greenberg asks the court to bar Trump from further breaching the clause, to make him give up unlawful gains, and to award damages in an unspecified amount. He also asks that Trump reveal whatever additional crypto money he has taken from foreign sources.

Greenberg filed the case as a derivative suit on Circle's behalf, claiming World Liberty's competition in the stablecoin market has hurt Circle shareholders. A Circle spokesperson said the company had no role in starting, directing, authorizing or joining the filing.

"We're suing to stop the corruption and to force President Trump to return the profits to American taxpayers," Matt Pelikan, an attorney at Evergreen Legal representing Greenberg, told CNBC.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly called the suit frivolous and said there are no conflicts of interest, in a statement to CNBC. World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman called the claims meritless and said nobody on the company's staff holds a job with the U.S. government. The Justice Department had no immediate response to Bloomberg's request for comment, and a spokesperson for Witkoff had no immediate response.

Tahnoon's ties to the Trump family's crypto business extend beyond the stake in World Liberty. An entity he backs holds 49% of WLTC Holdings, the holding company for World Liberty's planned national trust bank, which received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in August. Trump's 2025 annual financial disclosure shows the January 2025 stake purchase directed $263 million to Trump family entities.

Trump listed crypto earnings above $1.4 billion in that disclosure. Several earlier suits during his first term claimed violations of the Emoluments Clause, and none recovered money from him or stopped the business practices they challenged.

The case is Greenberg v. Trump, 26-cv-03686, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.