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Three days ago, The New York Times published a piece claiming that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman is pushing President Trump to continue the war in Iran. The Crown Prince, according to the article by Julian Barnes, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt, believes a “historic opportunity” exists to fashion a new Middle East.
It is not abnormal by any means for the leader of one nation to express his or her opinion to the President of the United States and to advocate what they believe to be in the best interest of their country. In fact, it is inherent in the job. What is troubling are the business entanglements of President Trump’s family members, namely son-in-law Jared Kusher, with the Saudi government and whether those relationships have a conscious or subconscious on the President’s foreign policy decision-making.
Kushner’s Affinity Partners
The day after Trump’s first term ended, January 21st, 2021, Kushner filed incorporation paper in Delaware for Affinity Partners, a private equity investment firm, according to House Oversight Committee documents. Within 6 months, Kushner secured a $2 billion investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund despite reservations from the fund’s advisors. The fund is under the direct control of the Crown Prince, and at the time amounted to the majority of Affinity Partners’ assets under management.
Kushner is after all a high-rolling businessman with global connections, so perhaps he simply made a compelling pitch to the Saudis and got lucky. Except, in 2016, led by former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, a plan was hatched to provide nuclear power plant technology to Saudi Arabia – a potential precursor to nuclear weapons. Flynn was fired from his post in 2017 for lying to the Vice President, but the plan was later resurrected. With Kushner as a major proponent of the plan, the Trump Administration tried to authorize private U.S. companies to sell nuclear technology, bypassing Congress and over the objections of administration lawyers that it might violate agreements regarding nonproliferation. In March of 2019, Energy Secretary, Rick Perry approved six secret authorizations for companies to sell the nuclear technology.
In August of 2018, a Canadian-based company, Brookfield Asset Management bailed out Jared Kushner’s troubled Manhattan high rise for more than $1 billion. In the same year, Brookfield’s private equity arm purchased Westinghouse Electric from bankruptcy for about $4.6 billion. It is believed that Westinghouse was one of the American companies authorized to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.
But wait, there’s more.
As Senior White House Advisor, Kushner facilitated a $110 million arms sale to Saudi Arabia. His role included pressuring Lockheed Martin to lower the price of the coveted Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.
In 2020, Kushner participated in negotiations between Russia and Saudi Arabia after Saudi Arabia flooded the oil market during COVID-19 driving prices lower and threatening the solvency of U.S. companies. That negotiation led to Saudi Arabia cutting production by 9.7 million barrels per day, but COVID had decimated demand by at least 30 million barrels per day. Because of his close relationship with the Crown Prince, opponents of President Trump suggested Kushner may have been involved in the decision of the Saudis to cut oil production by 10 million barrels per day just ahead of the 2022 midterm elections while Americans were already struggling under the weight of high inflation.
Kushner Negotiates with Iran
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner represented the U.S. in negotiations with Iran in Geneva just prior to the Israeli-U.S. attack. On February 27th, the Omani Foreign Minister told CBS News that a deal on nuclear bombs and ICBMS capable of reaching the U.S. was “within our reach,” and subsequent negotiations had been scheduled. The following day, Israel and the U.S. attacked.
A fair amount has been written questioning whether Kushner was negotiating in good faith or a “stalking horse” for Israel. The New York Times and others reported that Kushner’s family was so close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Netanyahu stayed in Kushner’s childhood bedroom when he visited New York.
Now, in light of the reporting that bin Salman is pressuring Trump continue the war, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Kushner saw an opportunity to score a “two-fer” – support family friend Netanyahu’s goals and further endear himself to bin Salman.
What is clear is that Kushner’s Affinity Partners assets have risen to $6.2 billion since the initial investment from Saudi Arabia. It is also estimated Kushner has received $100 million in management fees. Most recently, Kushner continues to negotiate business deals with Middle East governments, seeking $5 billion while serving as a U.S. envoy.
Besides the media, Democrats in Congress have opened another investigation, but any real accountability will be elusive until they take back control of at least one house and the presidency –and it still may not happen. Meanwhile, the officials with the power to do something about what is more than just an appearance of impropriety hide their heads in the Rub’ al-Khali desert.