Money Grab/Pardon donors and drop cases against friends
Commerce clears 35,000 Nvidia chips for G42, chaired by World Liberty’s 49% buyer
On November 19, 2025, the Commerce Department authorized exports of up to 35,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips each to G42 of the UAE and Humain of Saudi Arabia. G42 is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, whose investment vehicle had bought 49% of the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial ten months earlier.
What happened
In January 2025, four days before the inauguration, Eric Trump signed a deal selling 49% of World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto venture, to Aryam Investment 1 for $500 million. Aryam is an Abu Dhabi vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, a member of the ruling family and the UAE’s national security adviser. $250 million was paid up front. The deal was not disclosed; the Wall Street Journal reported it in February 2026.
Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips cannot be shipped to many countries without U.S. government approval, and the Commerce Department controls those licenses. On November 19, 2025, during the Saudi crown prince’s visit to Washington, Commerce under Secretary Howard Lutnick announced it had authorized exports to G42, the Abu Dhabi AI company Sheikh Tahnoon chairs, and to Humain of Saudi Arabia.
Each company was approved to buy the equivalent of up to 35,000 Nvidia GB300 Blackwell chips, subject to security and reporting conditions monitored by the Bureau of Industry and Security. Commerce tied the approvals to Trump’s AI Action Plan and to AI partnership agreements with both governments.
Who benefited
G42 and Sheikh Tahnoon gained access to chips the United States restricts. Nvidia sells them; one estimate put 35,000 chips at roughly $1 billion. The approval came ten months after Sheikh Tahnoon’s vehicle bought half of the president’s family’s crypto venture.
Who wanted something
Sheikh Tahnoon’s company needed U.S. export approval, and his investment vehicle had already committed $500 million to the president’s family’s business. That deal was kept from public view until February 2026. The UAE government was the other party to the AI partnership agreement Commerce cited in the approval.
Who lost out
Export controls on these chips exist because the U.S. government judged them too sensitive to sell freely abroad. The conditions attached to this approval, monitored by the Bureau of Industry and Security, are the only remaining check.
Why it matters
A foreign official’s vehicle secretly bought half of the president’s family business for $500 million, and ten months later his company received a government approval it needed. The record does not show that one caused the other. It shows the sequence, the parties and the $500 million.
Sources U.S. Department of Commerce (primary)GlobalSecurity.org (mirror of Commerce statement) (primary)The NationalThe Block (citing WSJ)