Conflict of interest in the White House. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner negotiates, earning millions from sheikhs

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, with no experience in diplomacy, became the main negotiator of the US administration. His investment fund was created with funds from the Persian Gulf countries; According to experts, this is a serious conflict of interest or corruption, the media note.

Kushner, who served as his adviser during his father-in-law's first presidency, was recently involved in peace negotiations in the Gaza Strip and is now leading negotiations with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff to end Russia's war against Ukraine. The fact that The president's son-in-law, who has no official position in his cabinet, has suddenly become a “major player” in US foreign policy, raises some concern about his “overseas financial ties” – writes the Washington Post on Tuesday.

ABC News reported that Affinity Partners, Kushner's investment company, was established thanks to a $4.8 billion investment. co-financed by the wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Qatarwhich is even stranger because Trump's young son-in-law had no experience in running such a business.

However, the portal adds that the supervisory board of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Saudi wealth fund, was against this recapitalization, but relented after the intervention of Prince Mohamed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom. Now Kushner's company earns over $80 million annually by overseeing investments by the Persian Gulf states.

According to ABC News, Trump's son-in-law was able to negotiate peace in the Gaza Strip thanks to his contacts with three leaders: bin Salman, the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Sani.

The fact that Kushner does business with these countries, invests with them and negotiates with them is “unconventional diplomacy, to say the least,” ABC News comments.

In an interview with the British daily “Guardian”, Center for International Policy expert Matt Duss said that this is a “colossal conflict of interest” and a situation in which influence is being bought in the Trump administration, which is “overt corruption”.

However, while the president's son-in-law has extensive relations in the Middle East, including Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a friend of the Kushner family, it is not known what contacts could constitute an added value in his negotiations regarding the war in Ukraine – notes “WP”.

Axios reported that after weeks of intense diplomatic efforts, Ukrainians still believe that some parts of the US peace plan favor Moscow, and the US is putting much more pressure on President Volodymyr Zelensky than on Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian official said that from Kiev's perspective, the American offer deteriorated after last week's conversation between Witkoff and Kushner with Putin. (PAP)

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