Eric Trump Dodges Questions About $500 Million Emirati Crypto Deal: 'It's Crazy'

Eric Trump appeared visibly uneasy during a tense CNBC interview after being pressed about a reported $500 million investment from an Emirati-backed firm into the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture.

Anchor Sara Eisen questioned Eric and his brother Donald Trump Jr. about a deal involving World Liberty Financial — a crypto company co-founded by members of the Trump family and Steve Witkoff, who serves as a special envoy.

According to reporting cited during the segment, an Emirati-linked entity acquired a 49 percent stake in the business shortly after Donald Trump was elected.

The host referenced earlier reports identifying the buyers as associates of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior official in the United Arab Emirates.

Those reports also alleged that tens of millions of dollars flowed to Trump family–linked entities and businesses tied to the Witkoff family. The motivations behind the investment have not been independently confirmed.

Rather than directly addressing the concerns, Eric pivoted to what he described as his family's past treatment by tech platforms and financial institutions.

"It's crazy. The law of unintended consequences," he said, arguing that being removed from social media ultimately led the family to launch Truth Social. "We went out, and we formed Truth Social."

He also claimed that banks "started canceling us left and right," which he said pushed them toward cryptocurrency. "We went out and we got into defi because we realized there was a future of finance," Eric explained, adding that global crypto adoption is "the future."

Donald Jr. firmly denied any impropriety.

"A, my father has nothing to do with it. B, it has nothing to do with AI chips," he said, dismissing the controversy. "I mean, they tried all this nonsense the first time around. Frankly, it's gotten old."

He continued, "They were the ones who put us into this position by creating legislation to try to put us out of business. We just fought back."

"We weren't willing to sit in a corner, curl up in a ball, and die like they would love us to do. That's not how we function. That's not how we operate," he added.

Still, criticism has mounted from Democratic lawmakers and ethics watchdogs.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the arrangement "corruption, plain and simple," while Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote on social media that the president "has wasted no time in his second term enriching himself and his family off the presidency while driving up costs on everyday Americans."

Donald Sherman, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, labeled the reported investment a "blatant, disgraceful conflict of interest and a possible violation of the Constitution's Federal Emoluments Clause."

The White House dismissed the accusations. Spokesperson Anna Kelly said that "President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public."

Kelly also stated that his assets are "in a trust managed by his children" and maintained that "there are no conflicts of interest."