Warren Demands National Security Review of UAE Tech Access Tied to Trump Crypto Deal

A $500 million commitment to a Trump family cryptocurrency venture sits at the center of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s challenge to the Commerce Department’s decision to ease export controls on the United Arab Emirates.

Warren sent a letter, provided exclusively to CNBC, pressing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to release the national-security analysis underpinning the July policy shift and to clarify whether the Defense, State, or Energy departments raised objections. She specifically asked whether those agencies flagged the risk that sensitive American technology could be diverted to China or Iran.

“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 Commerce Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The capital flows Warren cites trace back to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security advisor and chairman of artificial intelligence company G42 and investment firm MGX. Known as the “Spy Sheikh” for his prominent role in UAE intelligence operations, Sheikh Tahnoon’s entities reportedly committed $500 million to World Liberty Financial, the Trump family-affiliated cryptocurrency venture, and secured board seats in the process. MGX then deployed World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin to complete a $2 billion investment in cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The financial stakes are considerable. Commerce last month reclassified the UAE into Country Group A:5, a more permissive export-control category that allows certain sensitive products to ship under broad exemptions rather than requiring individual company licenses. The reclassification gives the UAE government, G42, and its cloud subsidiary Core42 streamlined access to advanced-computing equipment. Commerce also signaled it would “favorably review” license applications for semiconductors and servers destined for MGX, which backs artificial intelligence companies OpenAI and Anthropic.

Warren, ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, characterized the timing as “alarming.” Sheikh Tahnoon reportedly sought approvals to import advanced artificial intelligence chips in meetings with U.S. officials following the World Liberty Financial investment. The Trump administration has now apparently granted that request.

By contrast, every other country receiving the same streamlined treatment participates in at least one of four major international export-control agreements. The UAE does not, a procedural gap Warren argues represents a departure from established practice.

She posed seven sets of questions to Lutnick, asking specifically how Commerce would prevent controlled technology from reaching prohibited users and whether chips shipped to G42 could be accessed by entities connected to Chinese military or intelligence agencies. She also called for Lutnick and Jeffrey Kessler, head of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, to testify before Congress.

Commerce has defended the policy change as recognition of the UAE’s standing as a major U.S. defense partner and its support for American national security interests, including Operation Epic Fury, the administration’s military campaign against Iran. The department has maintained that the revised rules do not eliminate restrictions designed to prevent sensitive technology from reaching prohibited countries or users.

No evidence has emerged that the cryptocurrency transactions influenced Commerce’s export-control decision.

Whether Lutnick agrees to testify, and what the national-security review actually shows, will determine how much scrutiny the UAE’s newly expanded access to American computing hardware ultimately attracts.