UAE National Security Advisor, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on March 18, 2025.Courtesy: Donald J. Trump | Via Truth SocialThe powerful United Arab Emirates official known as the "spy sheikh" is behind the largest stake in the holding company for the Trump family's planned crypto bank, further deepening his financial ties to President Donald Trump's business empire, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE's national security advisor and brother of its president, and his co-investors are behind StringZ Holding RSC, which owns a 49% stake in the bank's holding company, WLTC Holdings, according to the Journal. An entity affiliated with Trump's family owns an additional 38%.Tahnoon and other investors previously invested $500 million in the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial in January 2025, the month Trump began his second term as president, receiving a 49% stake in the cryptocurrency company. That deal directed $263 million to Trump family entities, according to Trump's 2025 annual financial disclosure.The investment is one of several foreign deals that have benefited Trump's businesses since he returned to office. Trump's businesses generated at least $59.5 million in foreign licensing revenue during the first year of his second term, CNBC previously reported.Read more on Trump investmentsTrump’s foreign licensing business booms to $59.5 million as Gulf developers payJPMorgan, Schwab and UBS manage millions in Trump’s $858 million investment portfolioTrump bought as much as $5 million in Axon stock before ICE sought $220 million Taser dealCompany that bet big on Trump-backed crypto says its fortunes have improvedTrump family got about $500M from crypto venture — but investors saw steep lossesTrump Jr. calls banking a 'Ponzi scheme' that forced family to create crypto businessThe Trump family crypto empire looks to Asia: Eric Trump talks Bitcoin in Hong KongTrump family says U.S. dollar needs an upgrade and they are the ones to do itThe Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty preliminary conditional approval this month to establish a federally chartered national trust bank. The bank would issue, redeem and safeguard USD1, World Liberty's dollar-backed stablecoin, but must satisfy additional conditions before opening.The arrangement has drawn scrutiny because Tahnoon is a foreign government official and the Trump administration has negotiated with the UAE over access to advanced U.S. artificial-intelligence chips. The administration approved chip sales to G42, a state-backed AI company controlled by Tahnoon, and last month eased limits on how many chips it could purchase.World Liberty spokesman David Wachsman called the firm "a private American financial technology company, not a political organization" and said its trust company has separate governance. "No one at World Liberty works for the U.S. government and there are no conflicts of interest," he said, adding that the company neither seeks nor receives special treatment. He did not address the reported ownership structure.The White House did not immediately responded to CNBC's request for comment but has previously said Trump "only acts in the best interest of the American public" and denied that he has conflicts of interest.