Circle shareholders sue Trump and WLFI, accusing them of profiting from cryptocurrency transactions related to the UAE

According to a report by Politico, Joel Greenberg, a shareholder of Circle Internet Group and a former software engineer at the company, filed a lawsuit in a U.S. federal court on Thursday, accusing U.S. President Donald Trump and his family of benefiting from two transactions involving the United Arab Emirates through the cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial (WLFI), allegedly violating the U.S. Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause. This clause restricts the president from accepting money or other benefits from foreign governments without congressional approval.

The lawsuit states that the first transaction occurred before Trump's second term began, in which he sold 49% of WLFI for $500 million, with the related funds reportedly coming from the UAE. After Trump took office, he reportedly earned millions from this transaction. The second transaction involved an investment fund established by the UAE government purchasing $2 billion worth of digital currency from the Trump family. The plaintiff alleges that this transaction inflated the value of the cryptocurrency assets held by Trump and generated millions in interest income for him, while significantly expanding the circulation of his stablecoin.