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Politics23 outlets ran this3 min read

Shareholder Sues Trump Over Alleged Illegal Crypto Profits

Lawsuit claims president violated Constitution's foreign emoluments clause through UAE-linked deals.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Shareholder Sues Trump Over Alleged Illegal Crypto Profits

What this story says

  • A shareholder of Circle Internet Group has sued President Donald Trump and his family's crypto firm, World Liberty Financial.
  • The lawsuit alleges Trump illegally profited from deals with the United Arab Emirates, violating the Constitution's foreign emoluments clause.
  • Claims include illegal foreign emoluments related to a $500 million stake sale and a $2 billion investment in Binance.
  • The White House denies the allegations, stating Trump's assets are in a trust and there are no conflicts of interest.

Who covered it

Left 33%(4)Centre 67%(8)Right 0%(0)

Percentages are shares of the 12 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 11 of the 23 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

60/100

Craft

65/100

Hype

45/100

23 sources · methodology

Thin on the right so far

None of the 12 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

A shareholder of Circle Internet Group has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and his family's cryptocurrency firm, World Liberty Financial. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, alleges that Trump illegally profited from deals involving the United Arab Emirates, thereby violating the U.S. Constitution's foreign emoluments clause. This clause prohibits federal officeholders from accepting gifts or payments from foreign states without congressional consent.

The lawsuit claims Trump accepted two illegal foreign emoluments. These include a $500 million stake sale in World Liberty Financial to an entity backed by UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, which occurred days before Trump's inauguration in January 2025. It also alleges a $2 billion investment in Binance, facilitated by a UAE government-backed fund chaired by Tahnoon, was used to inflate the value of Trump's crypto holdings.

Named as defendants alongside Trump and World Liberty Financial are its holding companies, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, and DT Marks DEFI LLC. The plaintiff, identified as J. Benjamin Greenberg, a former Circle employee and shareholder, is seeking a court declaration that Trump's profits violate the Constitution and wants him to disclose and return any illegal foreign crypto emoluments.

Disagreement on allegations

The White House has denied the allegations. A spokesperson stated that Trump's assets are held in a trust and that no conflicts of interest exist. World Liberty Financial, through a spokesperson, stated the company complies with all U.S. laws and regulations and that the claims are without merit. Counsel for World Liberty Financial called the lawsuit a "partisan press release" and "frivolous."

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated or centre-rated reports mentioned the specific figure of $1.4 billion in crypto income Trump reported for 2025, which was detailed in the CNBC full report. The CNBC report also noted that the WLFI token fell significantly in value, a detail absent from the other reports.

Tags:#DonaldTrump#Cryptocurrency#Lawsuit#ForeignEmoluments#UnitedArabEmirates

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 23 Oct 2026, 00:15, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Eric Trump, executive VP of The Trump Organization, right, speaks as co-founder of World Liberty Financial Zach Witkoff looks on during Token 2049, a crypto event, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Spectrum NewsCentre

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

4 rated outlets

  • Left-rated reports led with the accusation that President Trump illegally profited from foreign cryptocurrency deals, violating the Constitution. They highlighted the specific claims of a $500 million stake sale and a $2 billion investment in Binance as illegal foreign emoluments. These reports quoted the plaintiff's attorney stating, "What President Trump did is brazenly corrupt. He's made millions from these deals by selling out the American people." They also noted the suit seeks to force Trump to return profits to American taxpayers. The reports mentioned the White House denial and World Liberty Financial's response that the claims are without merit.

Centre

8 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports focused on the lawsuit accusing President Trump and World Liberty Financial of violating the Constitution's foreign emoluments clause through UAE-linked crypto investments. They detailed the claims of illegal foreign emoluments, including the $500 million stake sale and the $2 billion investment in Binance. These reports included statements from the White House denying conflicts of interest and asserting Trump's assets are in a trust. They also noted the plaintiff's claim that Trump "brazenly violated the Constitution in order to enrich himself, his family, and his business, at a direct cost to Circle."

Right

0 rated outlets

No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Shareholder Sues Trump Over Alleged Illegal Crypto Profits?
Of the 12 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 33% are rated left, 67% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 23. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Shareholder Sues Trump Over Alleged Illegal Crypto Profits left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 12 rated outlets on this story, 33% are rated left, 67% are rated centre, 0% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Shareholder Sues Trump Over Alleged Illegal Crypto Profits biased?
Shareholder Sues Trump Over Alleged Illegal Crypto Profits is one event reported by 23 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Shareholder Sues Trump Over Alleged Illegal Crypto Profits?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Shareholder Sues Trump Over Alleged Illegal Crypto Profits?
23 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What is the lawsuit against Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial about?
A shareholder has sued President Donald Trump and his family's crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, alleging they illegally profited from deals with the United Arab Emirates. The lawsuit claims these actions violated the U.S. Constitution's foreign emoluments clause, which restricts federal officeholders from accepting foreign payments without congressional consent.
What specific deals are mentioned in the lawsuit?
The lawsuit cites two alleged illegal foreign emoluments: a $500 million stake sale in World Liberty Financial to a UAE-backed entity before Trump's inauguration, and a $2 billion investment in Binance by a UAE-backed fund. The suit claims these deals inflated the value of Trump's crypto holdings.
What is the White House's response to the lawsuit?
The White House has denied the allegations, stating that President Trump's assets are held in a trust and that there are no conflicts of interest. World Liberty Financial also denied the claims, asserting compliance with U.S. laws and regulations.

Read it at the source

23 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

4

Centre

8

Right

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Not rated

11
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How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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Trump Sued Over UAE Crypto Deals | MediaBias News