Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter Wednesday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick demanding an explanation for the Trump administration's July decision to ease export controls on the United Arab Emirates, citing hundreds of millions of dollars in investments from UAE-linked entities into the Trump family cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial.
The letter, shared exclusively with CNBC, asked Commerce to produce the national-security analysis that supported the decision and to disclose whether the Defense, State, or Energy departments raised concerns about advanced US technology reaching China or Iran. The Commerce Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"The Department's actions raise significant questions about the potential influence the President's cryptocurrency business interests may be having on the agency's operations and our national security," Warren wrote.
The policy change and the investments that preceded it
Commerce last month reclassified the UAE into Country Group A:5, a more permissive export-control category. That reclassification allows exporters to ship certain sensitive goods to UAE entities under broad exemptions rather than applying for individual licenses case by case. The UAE government, AI company G42, and its cloud subsidiary Core42 gained easier access to certain advanced computing hardware as a result. Commerce also said it would "favorably review" license applications for semiconductors and servers bound for MGX, the Abu Dhabi investment firm.
Warren's inquiry centers on Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security advisor, chairman of G42, and head of MGX. Entities linked to Sheikh Tahnoon reportedly invested $500 million in World Liberty Financial in January 2025 and received board seats. MGX also used World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to complete a $2 billion investment in cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
There is no evidence those transactions influenced Commerce's export controls decision.
Warren described the timing as "alarming." "After that investment into WLF, Sheikh Tahnoon reportedly sought approvals to import advanced AI chips in meetings with U.S. officials," she wrote. "Now, the Trump Administration has apparently granted the request."
Why Warren argues this departs from standard practice
Warren told Lutnick that the reclassification breaks with the Bureau of Industry and Security's past approach. Every other country that holds Country Group A:5 status participates in at least one of the four major international export-control agreements. The UAE does not participate in any of them and has not sought to join. Warren argued that including the UAE in the same category as countries that have aligned their export control restrictions materially raises the risk of technology diversion for military use or to support weapons programs.
The senator also pointed to reported internal warnings from Commerce staff that advanced AI chips shipped to G42 could be diverted to China. She asked Commerce to address whether chips bound for G42 could be accessed by entities connected to Chinese military or intelligence agencies and how the department would prevent controlled technology from reaching prohibited end users.
Commerce has defended the policy change by pointing to the UAE's status as a significant US defense partner and its support for US national security interests, including the administration's Operation Epic Fury. Officials maintained that the reclassification does not remove the guardrails intended to keep sensitive technology from prohibited countries or users.
Where this fits in the wider scrutiny of Trump's crypto interests
Warren's letter is part of a sustained congressional effort to examine how Trump's financial ties to the crypto industry may intersect with policy decisions. World Liberty Financial's token sales generated upward of $500 million in 2025. Trump's 2025 financial disclosure showed he received 75% of net revenue from the project, and crypto now accounts for a greater share of his earnings than his real estate holdings and licensing deals combined.
In June, Warren and a group of senators had already called for hearings into the $500 million World Liberty Financial investment. Democrats have separately been scrutinizing Trump's pardon of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, which became a point of concern as the MGX-Binance investment using USD1 attracted attention.
Warren asked seven sets of questions in the letter and called for both Lutnick and Jeffrey Kessler, the head of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, to testify before Congress. She also asked for the records of any internal concerns raised by staff about technology diversion risks before the reclassification was finalized.
Kristian Koch
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