Selling US Security: A Trump Family Business

Froma Harrop on Feb 3, 2026

The U.S. makes artificial intelligence chips so special, so advanced, that the Biden administration limited their export for national security reasons. They didn't want them to get into the hands of China or Russia.

But days before Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term, go-betweens for an Abu Dhabi royal signed a secret deal that delivered $187 million into Trump family ventures. So far, as far as we know.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan -- nickname, the "spy sheik" -- had long been frustrated in his campaign to obtain this highly sensitive AI technology. The fear was that our super chips could be diverted to China.

Under the private arrangement, Tahnoon's $1.3 billion fund paid $500 million for 49% of World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's crypto enterprise.

A few weeks after Trump returned to power, the United Arab Emirates was given yearly access to about half a million of the most advanced chips. Abu Dhabi is one of the seven UAE emirates. Tahnoon's brother is the UAE's president.

Zach and Alex Witkoff, both principals in World Liberty, were not left out. They are the sons of Steve Witkoff, the real estate developer whom Trump named U.S. special envoy to the Middle East. The Witkoff family is getting its cut of millions from the deal.

These machinations were complicated and secretive enough to fall under the radar of average Americans. But they amount to an underhanded sale of prized U.S. technology. To wade through the details, read The Wall Street Journal's excellent account of what went on.

Again, these controls were designed to prevent U.S. technology from aiding rival nations in developing military, surveillance and strategic AI expertise.

Another change from the Biden years: Back then, the crypto-based betting platform Polymarket was under a Justice Department probe into money laundering. Now it's made a highly lucrative deal with the New York Stock Exchange's parent company. And its founder, 27-year-old Shayne Coplan, is suddenly a billionaire.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission considered Polymarket an unregistered exchange open to market manipulation. Thus, it limited Polymarket's U.S. bets to derivative trading.

Polymarket doesn't know the identities of most of the people who trade on its platform. It's been tagged for manipulation on all kinds of bets: What would happen in Russia's war on Ukraine? Who would win the Nobel Peace Prize? Not knowing exactly who's involved lets users trade on insider information. Such activity is illegal, but who would the Securities and Exchange Commission know to go after?

Hours before the "surprise" U.S. military operation to take down Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, bets on that happening surged into Polymarket. One unnamed trader made more than $400,000.

Another form of manipulation is "washing." That's when trades are moved back and forth, creating the impression of an active market. A study out of Columbia University found evidence of wash trading in about 25% of Polymarket's volume.

Two months before Trump's second inauguration, FBI agents broke the door of Coplan's Manhattan penthouse apartment. They were probing charges that Polymarket was laundering money. Once Trump was in office, the Justice Department halted its investigation. Why the turnaround? Could it possibly be that Donald Trump Jr.'s venture capital firm is a Polymarket investor? (Junior is now listed as one of the company's advisers.) It should be no surprise that Coplan sat with Donald Jr. during the 2024 Republican National Convention. Thus, things are looking up for Polymarket.

What's good for America does not necessarily track the Trump family's fortunes. Historians someday will gather a compendium of the Trump era's corruption and self-dealing. And future generations will look on with appalled wonder that all this went on under the public's nose.

Follow Froma Harrop on X @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

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