Warren, Merkley Seek World Liberty Financial Records on $2 Billion Trump Stablecoin Deal Involving UAE Firm and Binance
“Congress is considering legislation that, if passed into law, would expand the scale and reach of USD1 and enable the President to continue profiting off of a financial product he oversees, lining his pockets at the expense of American taxpayers and undermining our democracy.”
"This is a staggering vehicle for corruption.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), sent a letter to Zachary Witkoff, Co-Founder of World Liberty Financial (WLF), requesting the company preserve and provide documents and communications related to its stablecoin, USD1, and its interactions with federal agencies.
“These documents will help us better understand the extent to which the transaction will enrich President Trump, his family, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff—your father, and himself a co-founder of WLF. As you know, WLF is a cryptocurrency company financially linked to President Trump, his family, and his Administration,” the Senators wrote.
The letter details how World Liberty Financial, Inc. is deeply entwined with the Trump Administration including President Trump being listed on the company’s website as its “Chief Crypto Advocate” and the fact that a Trump-affiliated entity controls 60% of WLF’s ownership and has a claim to 75% of revenues from its crypto token—reportedly amounting to $400 million in earnings so far. The Senators expressed serious concerns about how this arrangement could financially benefit President Donald Trump, his family, and senior administration officials, blurring the line between public service and private gain.
“In March 2025, WLF announced its plan to launch USD1, ‘the stablecoin your portfolio’s been waiting for,’” they wrote. “The launch of a stablecoin directly tied to a sitting President who stands to benefit financially from the stablecoin’s success is itself an unprecedented conflict of interest presenting significant threats to our financial system.”
On May 1, WLF announced that MGX would use USD1 to fund a $2 billion investment in Binance—a firm that admitted to violating U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. In the letter the Senators highlight the transaction as a troubling example of how foreign government-backed capital and a compromised crypto platform could funnel money directly to Trump and his associates.
“By using USD1 to finance the MGX-Binance deal, a foreign government backed entity and a foreign corporation that pleaded guilty to criminal violations of U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws are effectively cutting the Trump and Witkoff families into the deal to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. This is a staggering vehicle for corruption,” the Senators emphasized.
The letter comes as Senate Republicans recently attempted to ram through the GENIUS Act — legislation that would expand the stablecoin market without the most basic protections against the President’s conflicts of interest or foreign corruption and necessary safeguards against money laundering. While last week’s vote failed, Leader Thune could bring the legislation back to the floor at any time.
Previously, Merkley and Ranking Member Warren sent a letter to Office of Government Ethics Acting Director Jamieson Greer to raise significant concerns about the MGX-Binance deal and how it appears to enrich President Trump, his family, and members of his administration.
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