Trump family crypto business World Liberty gets preliminary approval to establish a bank

A trust company affiliated with the Trump family's crypto business, World Liberty Financial, has received conditional approval to establish a bank.

The Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Friday granted preliminary approval to World Liberty Trust Company to establish a bank charter, a move that would allow it to issue and manage its own stablecoins without relying on a middleman.

The trust company is linked to World Liberty Financial, which President Trump's sons founded in 2024 alongside the sons of Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration's special envoy to the Middle East. World Liberty Financial is 38% owned by "an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain of his family members," according to the company's website.

The plan has ignited criticism from Democrats, who say granting bank status to a business affiliated with the Trump family presents a conflict of interest. 

"This creates the awkward situation of the OCC needing to police World Liberty, which has an affiliation with the president's family," said Austin Campbell, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. "It is pretty unprecedented."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, called the move a "brazen act of self-dealing." On Saturday, she and a group of Democratic senators said they would introduce a bill to prevent the president, vice president and their family members from "owning or controlling a bank."