WLFI Responds to Rumors of “Trump Family’s Exit”: Bank License Approval Has Entered Final Stage

Author: Sander Lutz

Translated and edited by TechFlow

TechFlow Insight: Amid surging rumors about the “Trump family’s exit” from World Liberty Financial, Donald Trump Jr. and co-founder Zach Witkoff publicly addressed the speculation at the Miami Consensus conference. Beyond clarifying the rumors, Witkoff revealed that the company’s application for a national trust bank charter is “imminently expected to receive conditional approval.” Meanwhile, the company has filed a countersuit against TRON founder Justin Sun. A single clarification has thus exposed three intertwined threads: regulatory licensing, litigation, and political controversy.

Donald Trump Jr. responded on Thursday at the Miami Consensus crypto conference to a recent social media rumor claiming he and other family members had quietly exited World Liberty Financial.

“I think I saw on Twitter that Don and Eric have abandoned this project,” said Zach Witkoff, another co-founder of World Liberty, on stage.

“That news is also new to me,” Trump Jr. replied. He attributed the rumor to World Liberty’s earlier decision to remove from its official website the list of co-founders—including former President Trump and his three sons—prompting speculation amplified by bot accounts.

“If enough people blindly consume whatever others feed them—and bots amplify it—if the rumor were true, I wouldn’t be standing on this stage,” Trump Jr. said.

“To the best of my knowledge, Don and Eric remain co-founders of this project,” Witkoff added.

Notably, the moderator of this Q&A session, David Wachsman, serves as World Liberty’s head of public relations—not a neutral third party.

Countersuit Against Justin Sun: “We Would Not File Suit Without Evidence”

The discussion then turned to World Liberty’s lawsuit this week against crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, founder of the TRON network and one of World Liberty’s largest financial backers. Last month, Sun sued World Liberty first, accusing the company’s management of serious misconduct.

World Liberty subsequently filed a countersuit, alleging that Sun not only publicly disseminated false statements about the company but also secretly shorted its native token WLFI in an attempt to depress its price.

“We would not file this lawsuit without evidence,” Witkoff said, describing the legal action as a “last resort.”

Bank Charter: “Imminently Expected to Receive Conditional Approval”

Witkoff then shifted focus to World Liberty’s regulatory ambitions. In January, the company applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a bureau within the U.S. Department of the Treasury, for a national trust bank charter. Once approved, this charter would enable World Liberty to provide critical banking services for its dollar-pegged stablecoin USD1.

“We are extremely excited about obtaining this charter,” Witkoff said, adding, “I believe we are in the final stage of receiving conditional approval.”

This very charter has become a focal point of criticism by Democrats over recent months. Senator Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly cited World Liberty’s bank charter application as evidence of what she calls “perhaps the most disgraceful presidential corruption scandal in American history.”