- A Circle shareholder sued President Trump, World Liberty Financial, affiliates, and Steve Witkoff over a $2 billion foreign government-linked deal with Binance.
- The lawsuit alleges violations of the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause and claims the deal leaves Circle unable to compete fairly in the stablecoin market.
- The plaintiff seeks injunctions, an accounting of foreign payments, disgorgement, and damages.
- Democrats are using Trump’s crypto deals in campaign ads ahead of the 2026 midterms.
A shareholder in Circle Internet Financial, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, sued President Donald Trump, his family’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial, affiliate entities, and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff in a Thursday filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit centers on MGX, an Abu Dhabi entity tied to UAE royalty, which invested $2 billion into cryptocurrency exchange Binance using World Liberty‘s USD1 stablecoin in 2025. Shareholder J. Benjamin Greenberg alleged that Trump, Witkoff, and World Liberty caused harm to Circle by creating a pathway for foreign governments to funnel money, leaving Circle “unable to compete” with its USDC.
Consequently, he called the conduct “brazen corruption” and asked the court to declare that Trump violated the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause. Greenberg, who holds 10,000 ordinary Circle shares, requested injunctions, an accounting of billions in foreign-state payments, disgorgement, and compensatory and punitive damages; Zach Witkoff, Steve Witkoff’s son, is a World Liberty co-founder, as are Trump and his three sons.
The Wall Street Journal reported in February that another investment vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million. A Circle spokesperson said the company “did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing” and declined to comment on pending litigation.
Trump reported that his crypto ventures netted him $1.4 billion in 2025, while costing investors about $4.7 billion, according to reporting by nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. Meanwhile, with less than two weeks until the 2026 midterms and early voting already underway in some states, Democrats are using Trump’s crypto deals as a wedge issue.
Last week, Senator Mark Warner released a campaign ad highlighting that the president made “more than $600 million alone from the crypto memecoin.”
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