Lawsuit accuses Trump of illegally profiting off foreign crypto deals

A lawsuit filed Thursday accuses President Donald Trump and his family’s crypto company of “corruptly profiting” off more than $2 billion in digital currency-related deals, violating constitutional restrictions on accepting foreign money.

“No president in American history has profited from his office so brazenly,” alleges the federal civil complaint from a shareholder of Circle Internet Group, a publicly traded U.S. crypto company and competitor of the Trump family business, World Liberty Financial.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington by shareholder and former Circle employee J. Benjamin Greenberg 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.

Days before Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, an entity backed by Tahnoon — widely known as the “Spy Sheikh” because of his powerful intelligence role — agreed to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million.

The company told The Wall Street Journal, which revealed the transaction in January 2026, that Trump had no involvement in the deal. But Trump would receive millions of dollars from that purchase after becoming president, according to his financial disclosures.

The lawsuit also highlights a “scheme” by an Abu Dhabi-based investment fund chaired by Tahnoon to “inflate the value of President Trump’s crypto holdings” through last year’s purchase of $2 billion in World Liberty’s stablecoin, USD1.

The lawsuit asserts the conduct violates the U.S. Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which forbids federal officeholders from accepting money or other gifts from foreign officials without the consent of Congress.

“This is yet another frivolous lawsuit that echoes the same, tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family, and his administration for a decade,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CNBC in a statement. “There are no conflicts of interest.”

“What President Trump did is brazenly corrupt. He’s made millions from these deals by selling out the American people,” Matt Pelikan, an attorney at Evergreen Legal representing Greenberg, said in a statement to CNBC.

“We’re suing to stop the corruption and to force President Trump to return the profits to American taxpayers,” Pelikan said.

The suit says Greenberg is filing derivatively on behalf of Circle. The company said in a statement to CNBC it was not behind the lawsuit and does not comment on pending litigation.

“Circle did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing,” the company said via a spokesperson.

The suit names Trump, World Liberty and U.S. Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff as defendants, as well as four related limited liability…