Two blockbuster agreements illustrate how profitable the extreme deal-making of the Trump era has become for the president and people in his inner circle.
One involved a $2 billion transaction by a government-backed firm in the United Arab Emirates using a cryptocurrency offered by World Liberty Financial — a company founded by the families of President Trump and a close adviser, Steve Witkoff.
The other is a pending sale of the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence chips to the U.A.E. It would give the tiny Middle East country access to technology that could shape the global economy and even change how wars are fought.
There is no evidence that one was explicitly offered in return for the other. But an investigation by The New York Times found that they were being negotiated at the same time and by some of the same people — and were intertwined in ways that have not been previously reported.
Here are some key findings.
Witkoff advocated allowing the sale of chips to the U.A.E. while his family’s firm did the $2 billion deal with the Emiratis.
Earlier this year, World Liberty, the crypto firm run by the Trumps and Witkoffs, announced an agreement with an investment firm backed by the ruling family of the U.A.E. The Emirati firm would conduct a $2 billion transaction using World Liberty’s digital coins, a deal that would provide a windfall to the Trump and Witkoff families.
Yet at the same time, Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, along with others in the White House, were pressing to allow the Emirates access to something it desperately wanted: the world’s most advanced A.I. chips. Mr. Witkoff was involved in this high-stakes policy debate within the White House despite federal ethics rules that prohibit U.S. officials from participating in matters that could financially benefit their families.
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The post 5 Takeaways From The Times’s Investigation Into 2 Giant Deals Involving Trump appeared first on New York Times.
