Why The Trump-UAE Crypto Deal Made No Financial Sense--For The Emiratis [View all]

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Source: Forbes

".... It’s worth noting that the United States and the UAE went on a dealmaking spree together last year. In his role as the UAE’s national security advisor, Tahnoon secured his country access to powerful AI chips that the U.S. had previously kept close to the chest due to national security concerns. That deal was announced on May 15, just two weeks after the Binance-MGX-USD1 deal went through, and was reportedly negotiated in part by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who along with his son Zach co-founded World Liberty Financial.

The Defense Department also announced potential arms sales totaling $1.4 billion to the UAE, where the U.S. has an Air Force base and 3,500 deployed troops, that same month. The UAE did make a big promise in exchange for the above deals: $1.4 trillion in investments in the United States over ten years. That figure is more than twice as large as the tiny monarchy’s entire annual economy. Just last month, MGX, the state-owned, Tahoon-chaired UAE investment firm, was able to purchase a stake in the Trump-brokered sale of TikTok.

....All this smoke has Democrats in Congress shouting fire. “Trump’s crypto cons are the Mt. Everest of corruption—selling influence to line his own pockets,” Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, who serves on the Foreign Relations committee and introduced the “End Crypto Corruption Act” in 2025, said in a statement to Forbes. “Corruption, plain and simple,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Trump is bought and paid for by Abu Dhabi royals,” Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego wrote.

After the Binance-MGX-USD1 deal was announced last year, Trump opponents in the Senate filed a resolution to enforce the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause, which bars presidents from “accept[ing] of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” without Congress’ consent. Republicans blocked the measure. Warren and Merkley wrote to Binance and MGX at that time, asking why they settled the transaction in USD1 rather than fiat or another cryptocurrency. Any responses have not been made public. The senators also pressed the Office of Government Ethics to weigh in. That office has not responded to their request...."



Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kylemullins/2026/02/02/why-the-trump-uae-crypto-deal-made-no-financial-sense-for-the-emiratis/