Graphic shows a blurry photo of Donald Trump, the Fox News logo, and Bitcoin

Molly Butler / Media Matters

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Fox News’ past Biden corruption accusations perfectly describe the UAE’s secret investment in Trump’s crypto business

Written by Helena Hind, Jane Lee & Isabella Corrao

Published

Fox News has ignored bombshell reports detailing an apparent $500 million quid pro quo scheme involving an Emirati royal’s investment in a Trump family cryptocurrency business in exchange for access to chips used for AI. American national security officials had previously opposed providing access to the chips.

The network’s initial silence on the scandal — despite it being reported by its corporate cousins at The Wall Street Journal — sharply contrasts with its hosts’ yearslong push to impeach former President Joe Biden over comparatively flimsy corruption allegations. Over the course of the Biden presidency, Fox’s top hosts repeatedly emphasized the need for serious consequences for alleged corruption and foreign influence, with host Sean Hannity claiming that “foreign entities were paying … millions and millions of dollars” and that this amounted to “the single biggest abuse of power scandal in modern American history."

  • Background

    • An Emirati royal secretly purchased a large stake in the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial four days before Trump’s inauguration, and just months later, the Trump administration granted the UAE access to AI chips that were largely withheld during the Biden administration. Reports from the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times confirmed that Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan — also known as “spy sheikh” — purchased a 49% stake amounting to $500 million in the Trumps’ then-fledgling cryptocurrency business. As the Journal summarized, “The deal marked something unprecedented in American politics: a foreign government official taking a major ownership stake in an incoming U.S. president’s company.” The Biden administration previously rebuffed Tahnoon’s attempts to obtain American AI chips due to national security concerns, but his efforts with the Trump administration proved successful after his sizable investment in World Liberty. [Wall Street Journal, 1/31/26; New York Times, 2/1/26]
    • President Donald Trump and his family have personally profited from World Liberty revenues, with the president’s stake generating $57 million at the company’s start. According to The New York Times, “The Trump family’s crypto investments in the past year have increased the family’s net worth by more than $1 billion.” [New York Times, 2/1/26]
    • In stark contrast to the network’s incessant coverage of flimsy corruption allegations surrounding Joe Biden’s family — allegations deemed serious enough to warrant impeachment — Fox News has devoted zero minutes of airtime to Trump’s apparent $500 million quid pro quo scheme with the UAE as of February 3. In 2023 alone, Sean Hannity devoted over 300 segments of his Fox show to discussing the Biden corruption allegations — which included the thoroughly-debunked conspiracy theory involving Hunter Biden and a Ukrainian energy company, an array of “shell companies” the Bidens supposedly used for money laundering, and an unproven $5 million bribe to Joe Biden. [Media Matters, 2/3/26, 2/13/24]

  • Fox News’ top hosts repeatedly emphasized the paramount importance of investigating corruption and foreign influence

    • Host Sean Hannity: “If the standard applied to the impeachment of Donald Trump with Ukraine were ever applied to Joe and Hunter Biden, the Democrats, they would impeach him on day one.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 12/15/20]
    • Hannity complained that nobody was outraged over “the Biden family syndicate” supposedly bribing China: “This is the biggest influence-peddling scandal in our lifetime. Just like he tried to collude with Saudi Arabia and OPEC nations." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 10/19/22]
    • Hannity declared that “we’d be shredding the Constitution” if the Biden family’s activities were ignored. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/3/23]
    • Hannity said that taking “foreign bribes" is “the very definition of a high crime, also a serious felony that if proven true, could result in impeachment, possible imprisonment." [Fox News, Hannity, 5/3/23]
    • Host Jesse Watters: “What a racket: Fly to a corrupt country, tell them to clean up their act, and then everybody who’s corrupt sends … money for protection. That's how it works.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 5/10/23]
    • Hannity accused Biden of “bribery, racketeering, corruption, influence-peddling at the highest levels,” and claimed that “if Joe Biden was named Donald Trump, you better believe he would be the target of a very serious federal investigation.” [Fox News, Hannity, 5/10/23]
    • Watters claimed that “it doesn't matter if you don't pay Joe, if you pay the whole family. And then the whole family pays for houses and cars and tuition. That's a bribe. And that’s an impeachable offense.” [Fox News, The Five, 6/9/23]
    • Fox News host Laura Ingraham questioned if a Biden “whistleblower has the goods, then how is that not one of the biggest scandals of all time?” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 6/13/23]
    • Watters alleged that Biden was continuing to “serve” Ukraine by sending aid after he supposedly received a $5 million bribe from Burisma: “It’s almost like Joe Biden’s on the hook for Ukraine funding.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 6/15/23]
    • Ingraham warned: “America at this moment could very well have a compromised man leading our armed forces and our domestic policy.” She elaborated: “We all know what would be happening if these facts involved a Republican president and his son. There’d be breathless wall to wall media coverage, calls for impeachment, talk of treason, and demands for jail time.” She finished off her rant with: “Americans have little reason to believe that our president's foreign policy decisions aren’t tainted.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 6/22/23]
    • Hannity said that “foreign entities were paying … millions and millions of dollars” amounted to “the single biggest abuse of power scandal in modern American history.” Discussing the Bidens, Hannity continued: “Congressional Democrats, they don’t seem to care. For them, protecting the big guy is way more important than ever doing the right thing. They lack the courage, they have no moral compass from today’s whistleblowers. … We’re suffering through one of the most corrupt administrations in the history of this country.” [Fox News, Hannity, 7/19/23]
    • After detailing the allegations in the “long-awaited FBI FD-1023 form,” Hannity declared, “It is time for a real special counsel, a real criminal investigation to take place to investigate what is rampant corruption.” He went on to claim, “We now have what is a trove of credible evidence that he [Joe Biden] used the power of his office as the vice president of this country to secure massive amounts of money for his own family.” He concluded that Biden is “without a doubt … the most corrupt president in U.S. history, at least modern history.” [Fox News, Hannity, 7/21/23]
    • Watters said Hunter Biden’s plea deal was a “containment operation” to hide “foreign bank accounts, foreign lobbying, foreign agents, foreign business partners, foreign policy, foreign deals” as “that’s fertile ground for impeachment.” He continued: “That's when you get into conspiracy, money laundering, even treason. And that is why this looks more and more like a bribery ring. Remember, bribery is named specifically as an impeachable offense in the Constitution. It’s not like quid pro quo, like they tried to get Trump for.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 7/27/23]
    • Watters: “Do legitimate American businessmen get paid by foreign clients in diamonds, cars, and watches? No. These look like bribes.” He added, “Biden’s been able to avoid the scrutiny for so long, it’s no wonder he thinks he’s untouchable.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 9/18/23]
    • Hannity claimed that the debunked story of Biden withholding a loan guarantee until a Ukrainian prosecutor was fired “is the real quid pro quo.” Hannity quoted Peter Schweizer: “The bottom line is it doesn't matter if you demonstrate a single penny went to Joe Biden because bribery can mean paying off your family.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 8/23/23; Axios, 12/11/23]