<\/p>\n
Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture he co-founded with his sons, were sued by a shareholder in a rival crypto firm over claims the president illegally profited from his office in violation of the US Constitution.<\/p>\n
J. Benjamin Greenberg, a shareholder in Circle Internet Group Inc., claims illegal competition from World Liberty has harmed him and other Circle investors financially.<\/p>\n
The suit claims Trump violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause, a provision of the US Constitution that bars presidents from taking payments from foreign governments without the approval of Congress, in two World Liberty transactions with the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis action is about the President of the United States corruptly profiting from more than $2 billion in payments from a foreign government in direct violation of the Constitution,\u201d Greenberg said in a\u00a0complaint\u00a0filed Thursday in federal court in Washington. \u201cNo president in American history has profited from his office so brazenly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump reported $1.4 billion in earnings related to his crypto ventures, including World Liberty, last year. The revelation drew a\u00a0backlash\u00a0from Democrats in Congress and has been blamed in part for the failure of the Clarity Act, which was supposed to establish market-structure rules for the crypto industry.<\/p>\n
According to Greenberg, the sale of a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million to an investment vehicle backed by a member of UAE\u2019s ruling family and the purchase by Abu Dhabi\u2019s MGX fund of World Liberty\u2019s stablecoin to fund a $2 billion transaction were against US law.<\/p>\n
A World Liberty spokesperson said the claims are \u201cwithout merit.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cWorld Liberty Financial is compliant with all US laws and regulations,\u201d David Wachsman said in a statement. \u201cNo one at World Liberty Financial works for the US government.\u201d<\/p>\n
A White House spokesperson said \u201cthere are no conflicts of interest\u201d for the president.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis 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,\u201d Anna Kelly said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Greenberg filed his so-called derivative complaint as an individual Circle shareholder seeking to recover damages on the company\u2019s behalf. He claims shareholders were financially harmed by World Liberty, which competes with Circle in the stablecoin market.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis lawsuit was filed by an individual shareholder, not by Circle,\u201d a company spokesperson said in response to the suit. \u201cCircle did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The case follows several legal challenges filed against Trump in his first presidential term, which ended in 2021, claiming violations of the Emoluments Clause, and criticism that he improperly profited from the presidency. None of the suits were successful in recovering money from the president, nor forcing him to stop business practices they claimed were unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
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Trump and his sons co-founded World Liberty months before the 2024 election. The company issued two tokens, WLFI and stablecoin USD1. The stablecoin was used last year by Abu Dhabi\u2019s MGX fund to purchase a $2 billion stake in Binance, the world\u2019s biggest crypto exchange.<\/p>\n
The stablecoin currently has a market cap of about $4 billion, per tracker CoinGecko.<\/p>\n
World Liberty is already embroiled in a legal battle with billionaire Justin Sun, who\u00a0accused\u00a0the company of illegally freezing his WLFI tokens and extortion. World Liberty in turn\u00a0sued\u00a0him for defamation.<\/p>\n
The suit against Trump and World Liberty seeks an order blocking the president from violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause, as well as disgorgement of illegal profits and unspecified damages.<\/p>\n
The case is Greenberg v. Trump, 26-cv-03686, US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n
#Trump #crypto #firm #sued #profiting #foreign #government<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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