At Consensus Miami 2026, Donald Trump Jr. and World Liberty Financial (WLFI) co-founder Zach Witkoff vigorously denied rumors that the Trump-linked crypto project is collapsing, while addressing a high-stakes legal confrontation with Tron founder Justin Sun.
Speaking on stage before 20,000 attendees, Trump Jr. dismissed social media speculation about leadership turmoil and reserve issues as “bot-farm based” narratives. He specifically shot down claims that he and Eric Trump had distanced themselves from WLFI after a temporary website redesign removed the team page. “They changed the website design for a few minutes and, oh my God, they’re bailing on it,” he said.
The defense comes amid a mounting legal battle. WLFI recently filed a defamation lawsuit in Florida state court, alleging Sun engaged in “gross misconduct” tied to WLFI token purchases and orchestrated a smear campaign using influencers and bots. Sun had earlier sued WLFI in California federal court, claiming the company froze his tokens and stripped his voting rights. Witkoff called Sun’s lawsuit “entirely meritless” and a “desperate attempt to deflect attention” from his own actions.
Witkoff also defended the project’s USD1 stablecoin, revealing real-time proof of reserves through a partnership with Chainlink (LINK), allowing users to verify holdings directly onchain. The executives underscored that WLFI would not have filed the lawsuit “if we didn’t have the receipts.”
The controversy extends beyond Sun. Earlier this year, a Wall Street Journal report revealed that an Abu Dhabi-linked entity acquired a 49% stake for $500 million days before Trump’s inauguration, while Senator Elizabeth Warren urged the OCC to halt review of WLFI’s bank charter application over conflict-of-interest concerns. WLFI token currently trades around $0.08, more than 75% below its September 2025 peak.
