Donald Trump

World

World Liberty Financial

A Circle shareholder has filed a federal lawsuit against Donald Trump (<a href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@realDonaldTrump</a>) and World Liberty Financial (<a href="https://x.com/worldlibertyfi" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@worldlibertyfi</a>) <a href="https://x.com/search?q=%24WLFI&amp;src=cashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$WLFI</a>, challenging a $2 billion investment in Binance (<a href="https://x.com/binance" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@binance</a>) made by an Abu Dhabi fund. The suit alleges the broader deals improperly benefited the US president.
<h2 id="what-the-complaint-alleges">What the complaint alleges</h2>
J. Benjamin Greenberg, a shareholder in Circle Internet Group and a former software engineer at the company, brought the case. <cite>In a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Washington, Greenberg said the action is about the president corruptly profiting from more than $2 billion in payments from a foreign government in violation of the Constitution</cite>, according to Bloomberg.
The complaint centres on two transactions tied to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security adviser. <cite>In the first, an entity he backs agreed to pay $500 million for 49% of World Liberty, four days before Trump's January 2025 inauguration.</cite><cite>In the second, announced in May 2025, MGX, an Abu Dhabi state-backed fund he chairs, used World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance.</cite>
<cite>The complaint describes the purchase of USD1 as a "scheme" to "inflate the value of President Trump's crypto holdings,"</cite> according to CNBC, as relayed by Quartz. <cite>Greenberg claims the conduct violates the Foreign Emoluments Clause and asks the court to halt similar activities without congressional consent.</cite>
The suit also frames the matter as a competitive harm to Circle, the issuer of the <a href="https://x.com/search?q=%24USDC&amp;src=cashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$USDC</a> stablecoin. <cite>Greenberg alleges the arrangement created a pathway for foreign governments to funnel money using USD1, leaving Circle "unable to compete" with its USDC.</cite>
<h2 id="responses-from-circle-world-liberty-and-the-white-house">Responses from Circle, World Liberty and the White House</h2>
Circle has distanced itself from the case. <cite>A company spokesperson said the lawsuit was filed by an individual shareholder, not by Circle, and that Circle did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing.</cite>
<cite>A World Liberty spokesperson said the claims are "without merit", with David Wachsman stating the company is compliant with all US laws and regulations.</cite> On the White House side, <cite>spokesperson Anna Kelly told CNBC the case is "yet another frivolous lawsuit" and said there are "no conflicts of interest."</cite>
The case is <cite>Greenberg v. Trump, 26-cv-03686, in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.</cite><cite>Emoluments Clause lawsuits brought during Trump's first term did not recover money or force him to halt business practices alleged to be unconstitutional.</cite> The new case will test whether a shareholder claim built around stablecoin competition can fare differently.
Sources:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/trump-crypto-firm-sued-profiting-184013450.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance: Trump and Crypto Firm Sued for Profiting From Foreign Government</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://qz.com/circle-shareholder-sues-trump-uae-crypto-emoluments-102226" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Quartz: Circle shareholder sues Trump over $2 billion in UAE-linked crypto deals</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/circle-shareholder-lawsuit-donald-trump-world-liberty-financial-steve-witkoff-crypto-corruption?amp=&amp;amp=" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Cointelegraph: Circle shareholder sues Trump, World Liberty and Steve Witkoff over crypto deals</a></li>
</ul>

Trump And World LibertyFi Face Fresh Legal Challenge

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