The Father Pursues Trump's Diplomatic Deals. The Son Chases Crypto Deals. — WSJ
By Rebecca Ballhaus and Angus BerwickA month before President Trump's inauguration, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff flew to the United Arab Emirates with two goals: discussing regional issues with the Abu Dhabi royal known as the "spy sheikh," and attending a cryptocurrency conference.Less than five months later, Witkoff's son, co-founder of the crypto venture World Liberty Financial, took the stage at a conference in Dubai to announce the company had struck a deal for the sheikh's company to buy $2 billion of their new cryptocurrency. The expected tens of millions of dollars in annual profits would be split between the Witkoffs and their co-founders — and the Trump family, which holds a 60% stake in the company.On May 15, the elder Witkoff and the sheikh, Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, met again, this time for the unveiling of an agreement, long sought by the U.A.E., that gives the oil-rich Gulf monarchy access to millions of advanced U.S.-made computer chips.Since assuming his role as special envoy, Witkoff, a 68-year-old longtime friend of Trump's, has crisscrossed the globe on diplomatic business. At the same time, his 32-year-old son, Zach Witkoff, and a crew of advisers and associates have traveled to at least four countries as they pursue cryptocurrency deals that would make World Liberty an industry leader.The parallel father-and-son dealings with the U.A.E. are a stark example of how World Liberty's efforts have coincided with official government business.In pitch calls with crypto companies, Zach Witkoff has described Trump as like a godfather and said that World Liberty would be well positioned to take advantage of the growing number of crypto regulatory changes in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. His postings on X regularly cite his father's work for the White House.The extraordinary blurring of government negotiations and private business dealings is rewriting the diplomatic playbook for some foreign countries looking to gain traction with the new Trump administration. The extent to which Trump associates, including the Witkoffs, have sought business since the inauguration in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere hasn't been previously reported.In addition to hiring U.S. lobbyists and sending delegations to Washington to improve ties with the Trump White House, some countries seeking to advance their causes have met with family members of U.S. officials and their friends, according to people familiar with the discussions and photos and videos of the meetings posted on social media. In one case, a veteran finance minister from Pakistan met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's sister-in-law and the 19-year-old son of a close friend of Donald Trump Jr. to discuss digital assets.White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said that Steve Witkoff is divesting himself from his assets, including World Liberty, doesn't have an "operational role" in the company and doesn't discuss company or personal business matters in his government role. Trump, she said, is "incredibly proud of Steve and all that he has accomplished." Witkoff, who isn't taking a government salary and flies around the world on his personal jet, hasn't released a public financial disclosure. He has said he would transfer his holdings to his sons.World Liberty spokesman David Wachsman said the company's business deals have nothing to do with the U.S. government, and that the company "wouldn't even have the ability or insight to discuss official government business." He said that "attempting to frame WLFI and Ambassador Witkoff taking meetings in the same country as some sort of conflict of interest" is incorrect, adding that "one has nothing to do with the other."He denied that Zach Witkoff had referred to Trump as like a godfather, noting that Witkoff is Jewish and doesn't have godparents.The Trump Organization, the Trump family real-estate company, has pledged not to make new deals with foreign governments while Trump is in office. World Liberty has made no such commitment.Before he got into crypto, Zach Witkoff worked as a project manager at his father's New York real-estate firm, the Witkoff Group. In 2020, he took over the family office, with "a focus on blockchain," according to his LinkedIn profile. He, his father and others founded World Liberty in September, seven weeks before the presidential election.World Liberty issues a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency called USD1, which it envisions as a tool for companies and individuals to shuttle funds across borders outside the banking system. The company has pitched its token to foreign governments that are eager to improve their relations with the U.S., people who have dealt with the company said.In addition to World Liberty's meetings with officials in the U.A.E., Zach Witkoff met in Pakistan with some of the same top government officials who weeks later negotiated with the Trump administration over a cease-fire with India. He told them World Liberty could use blockchain technology to "tokenize" buying and selling of the country's rare-earth minerals . At the same time, Pakistan has been in talks to strike a rare-earth and other minerals deal with the U.S. potentially worth trillions of dollars, according to a lobbyist working with Pakistan on the deal.The World Liberty spokesman said that the company's meeting in Pakistan had "nothing whatsoever" to do with any deals the country may be negotiating with the Trump administration, and that its leaders haven't discussed a minerals deal with anyone in either government.Zach Witkoff's advisers and associates also have met with Malaysia's foreign minister and prime minister and Kyrgyzstan's president, and have spoken virtually at a Moscow crypto conference that featured the Russian deputy finance minister.Helping facilitate some introductions for World Liberty's foreign travels is Changpeng Zhao, founder of the crypto exchange Binance, who in 2023 pleaded guilty, along with the company, to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering laws. Zhao has been seeking a pardon from the Trump administration, a return of his company to the U.S. market, and an end to the compliance requirements imposed after a settlement with the Justice Department. World Liberty's spokesman said Zhao and Zach Witkoff are friends but that Zhao doesn't act as a fixer.A Binance spokesperson said Zhao has been driving "global innovation" in the crypto industry, and that the company "would be proud to help make the U.S. the crypto capital of the planet."World Liberty, which doesn't publicly disclose who buys its tokens, has raised more than $550 million from token sales this year. Among the buyers who have disclosed purchases: Abu Dhabi-based crypto trading firm DWF Labs, which bought $25 million worth, and Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who invested $75 million and is now a company adviser. On Thursday evening, he was set to attend a crypto-related dinner with Trump as a VIP guest.The World Liberty team has held talks about potential token purchases with other firms based in the Gulf, saying such deals could aid any U.S. expansion plans they have, people familiar with the talks said. The World Liberty spokesman disputed that the company said the deals could help any U.S. endeavors.Since taking office, Trump has moved to roll back government oversight of the crypto industry. The Securities and Exchange Commission has paused or dismissed more than dozen cases against crypto companies, including a case against Sun, who is World Liberty's largest known outside investor.Business is booming for World Liberty. USD1, only a month or so after its launch, is already the world's fifth-largest stablecoin, by market value, thanks to the U.A.E. deal. Binance on Thursday listed USD1 for trading on its platform, which is likely to boost demand for the token."Only the beginning," Zach Witkoff posted on X in May.Crypto connectionsWeeks after Trump won the 2024 election, Steve Witkoff, an old friend of Trump's from New York real-estate circles, made a swing through the Middle East. Trump had named him Middle East envoy shortly after his win, and Witkoff told Biden administration officials he wanted to start working on remaking his connections there, according to a person familiar with the matter.While in Abu Dhabi, Witkoff attended a cryptocurrency conference, where he mingled privately with other crypto entrepreneurs who would become key players in World Liberty — among them Sun and Zhao. Witkoff told attendees that crypto would skyrocket under Trump.Zach Witkoff wasn't there because his wife was giving birth to a son, whom they named Don, after the president. He and his brother, Alex, had already taken the reins of World Liberty.Their father Steve — a crypto novice — was involved at the time in talks for a deal between Zhao's crypto exchange Binance and representatives of the Trump family, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Witkoff denied involvement in the talks. Zhao also denied the talks.As Trump's inauguration approached, foreign countries began exploring new ways to build ties. During the first Trump administration, Pakistan had a rocky relationship with the U.S., which in 2018 suspended $300 million in military aid to the country. Trump repeatedly accused the country of not doing enough to tackle militant groups.Hoping for a fresh start, in early January Pakistan hired a U.S. lobbyist to help arrange meetings in Washington around Trump's inauguration, where the country's interior minister made a plea for more U.S. investment.In late January, Texas financier Gentry Beach, a close friend of Donald Trump Jr., led a delegation of investors to meet with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet, telling officials he wanted to invest billions of dollars in luxury real estate and Pakistan's minerals sector, which is rich in rare-earth minerals such as lithium. Earlier that month, at an event at Mar-a-Lago, Beach had crowed about the access he was getting to government leaders abroad following Trump's win. "They treat me like President Trump," he said.His son, Gentry Beach Jr., now 20, landed a meeting in Islamabad in February with Pakistan's finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, a former JPMorgan Chase executive, to discuss opportunities to develop the crypto sector there. The ministry viewed crypto as a way of drawing in wary foreign investors and reviving Pakistan's moribund economy.With Beach Jr. were two representatives of a sheikh from Dubai's ruling family, a Russian tech executive and the co-founder of a crypto project called IslamicCoin. Beach said his son didn't know the other people there, and never represented himself as part of anything related to the U.S. government.Also in attendance was another American with a connection to the Trump administration: Keli Whitlock, the chief business officer of a U.S. blockchain firm. Whitlock's sister is married to Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary. Her company's CEO attended, too. A month earlier, Whitlock had sat behind Hegseth, next to her sister, at his confirmation hearing.Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department "is not and has never been involved in business trips or meetings conducted by Secretary Hegseth's sister-in-law in her capacity as a private citizen."Pakistani officials weren't persuaded that Beach Jr. was the right person to help to make Pakistan a regional crypto leader, said one person familiar with the meeting. The finance minister ordered the creation of a National Crypto Council to oversee the drafting of crypto regulations in the hopes of attracting investors.He appointed as its head Bilal bin Saqib, a Pakistani tech entrepreneur who had attended a Binance yacht party in Abu Dhabi last December and was at the U.A.E. crypto conference that Steve Witkoff attended.Outreach from PakistanPakistan has reason to hope its relationship with the Trump administration will be better this time. In late February, the administration exempted from its foreign-aid freeze $397 million in security assistance to Pakistan. Trump thanked Pakistan in his State of the Union address for its assistance apprehending a terrorist, delighting Pakistani officials.In April, Pakistan signed a deal to pay $200,000 a month to a lawyer and two advisers close to Trump — his former bodyguard, Keith Schiller, and a former top Trump Organization lawyer, George Sorial — to help the country establish a "long-term economic partnership" with the U.S., specifically related to rare earth and critical minerals, according to foreign-lobbying records.Around the same time, Binance's Zhao traveled to Pakistan and was named a strategic adviser to the Pakistan Crypto Council.About a week later, World Liberty named Saqib an adviser, citing, among other things, his experience working with governments.The Pakistanis now had a Trump connection.On April 26, a private jet carrying World Liberty's leaders touched down in Islamabad. Zach Witkoff and co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, escorted by an armed bodyguard, were greeted on the tarmac by Saqib. In a later ceremony with Pakistan's finance ministry, Witkoff signed a memorandum of understanding that the ministry said would allow World Liberty to help position Pakistan as a global crypto leader, and use its stablecoin for remittances and trade.Later that day, the group flew to Lahore, where a police convoy escorted them to an evening celebration at a centuries-old citadel. Fireworks were set off in their honor, as Coldplay's "Fix You" blared. In a recorded "fireside chat" in Lahore's Shalimar Gardens, Witkoff said: "You guys are sitting on trillions of dollars of rare earth minerals."A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan said it is a Trump administration policy to support the growth of digital assets, calling it a "new area of diplomatic work" for the U.S. mission there. The Pakistan ministry of finance didn't comment, and the embassy in the U.S. didn't respond to requests for comment.While the finance minister was meeting with World Liberty, he also was trying to set up a meeting with the Trump administration, lobbying records show. A U.S. lobbying firm Pakistan hired in April, for $25,000 a month, spoke to a Treasury Department official in early May about facilitating a call with the minister, the records show.Robert Seiden, a lobbyist for Pakistan, said talks for a rare-earth minerals deal with the U.S. government have been moving swiftly. Under the new administration, Seiden said, countries "see that there is now a pathway forward if there's a willingness to make a commercial deal" with the U.S.Trump has continued to speak favorably about Pakistan, telling Fox News last week: "They're brilliant people. They make incredible products."From Pakistan, Zach Witkoff traveled to Abu Dhabi for a private Binance summit, where he visited Zhao, then to the Token2049 conference in Dubai, where he and Eric Trump announced that a $2 billion investment into Binance by Sheikh Tahnoon's company, MGX, would be paid in World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin.Zhao has continued to open doors for World Liberty. In May, he traveled to Kyrgyzstan, where he met with the president and formally joined the country's National Crypto Council. He and a World Liberty adviser also met with the Malaysian government to discuss a "digital finance partnership" between the two countries on crypto regulations.Some Democratic lawmakers are examining whether World Liberty's interactions with foreign governments and foreign nationals violate the law.Last week, Zach Witkoff posted on X a letter responding to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), who had requested details on World Liberty's finances, its communications with the Trump administration, including Steve Witkoff, and other policies.The letter said World Liberty had exercised "rigorous diligence" to comply with the law. It didn't include the requested records.It was signed by Teresa Goody Guillén, a lawyer at BakerHostetler who is representing the firm. Since February, she also has been lobbying on behalf of Binance.Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at [email protected] and Angus Berwick at [email protected]