Inside Jared Kushner's billion-dollar business ties to the Middle East and his central role in ending the US-Iran war

By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT Published: 23:53, 29 May 2026 | Updated: 23:53, 29 May 2026 Jared Kushner's plan for his father-in-law's second term was to settle into a regular life in sun-splashed Miami. Then the President decided to wage war in Iran and when he needed help ending his Middle East adventure, his natural call was to the billionaire husband of his eldest daughter.  Kushner has been central to many of Trump's foreign missions, serving as a civilian proxy for the White House alongside fellow special envoy Steve Witkoff.  Together, the pair have met with Hamas, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Iranian negotiators. After brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas late last year and overseeing Gaza's reconstruction, Kushner had been preparing to return to his Miami-based investment fund, Affinity Partners - but Iran pulled him back in.  He flew to Pakistan with Witkoff and Vice President Vance in April to negotiate with Iranian counterparts over 21 hours of talks - an experience Kushner reportedly described as 'actually pretty epic.'  More recently, Kushner has been working on a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran to cease hostilities in the ongoing war. But critics have raised alarms about Kushner's financial firm amid his newfound role as chief peace negotiator in the Middle East, claiming there's a 'conflict of interest' because billions of his funds are flowing into his firm from influential leaders in the region.  Jared Kushner, 45, has been asked by his father-in-law President Donald Trump to lead negotiations with Iran to find a peace deal Kushner, along with Vice President JD Vance (C), Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff have been leading the US delegations in negotiations with their Iranian counterparts and intermediaries Husband of the President's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, Kushner has not officially joined Trump's administration during his second term. Kushner did serve as an advisor to the President during his first term, where he led high-level negotiations in the Middle East 'Kushner was a crummy investor whose only value proposition was his proximity to his father-in-law,' Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, told the Daily Mail in a statement.  'He set up a massive fund drawing on Middle East oil money in the closing days of the first Trump administration, and he conveniently timed the investment agreements to expire right when he’d hold massive leverage over U.S. foreign policy during the beginning of a second Trump administration.' According to Affinity Partners' financial documents, almost all of the money they manage comes from foreigners.  Billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia and millions from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - all countries directly involved in the war with Iran - flowed into Kushner's fund shortly after he established it in summer 2021.   On Friday, Trump said he was reviewing the terms with Iran in the Situation Room before he would make a 'final determination' on Iran's fate.  'The President asked for a couple of changes to the MOU. We've gone back, we're going back and forth. I think he's in a pretty good place on it, and I think that they're in a good place,' the insider told the Daily Mail.  Central to the deal is $300 billion investment fund for Iran to rebuild its infrastructure and economy - a figure that has worried some on the right, fearful of handing a massive amount of money to a regime still dominated by religious hardliners. But those close the the negotiations push back on that characterization.  'There's no promise to give them money,' the insider shared. 'We're going to say if you guys make your country investable, then we will endeavor to help you raise money to build out your potential.' 'But what does it mean to be investable? They can't be pursuing a nuclear weapon, they can't be funding terrorism.'  US delegation including special envoy Steve Witkoff (C) and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner (2nd L) is welcomed by Ishak Dar (L), Pakistan Foreign Minister, and Asim Munir (2nd L), Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, upon their arrival in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, for high-stakes talks with Iran to end the Middle East conflict amid the ongoing two-week ceasefire on April 11, 2026 Kushner alongside Witkoff and Vance after peace talks with Iranian officials in Pakistan. Kushner called the trip 'actually pretty epic,' after an electric '21 hours of negotiation,' a source familiar with the matter told the Daily Mail Kushner with Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during Trump's first term. An insider told the Daily Mail that Kushner's friendly relationships with leaders across the Middle East has proven helpful in finding a peaceful resolution to the war Underpinning Kushner's role in all of this is a reservoir of trust he has built across the region - from his years brokering peace deals during Trump's first term through to the present day.  'There's a lot of trust, a lot of commonality, a lot of friendship, and a lot of understanding,' the insider said of Kushner's relationships with Middle Eastern leaders. 'He really understands the difference between the places, their dynamics with each other, a lot of the cultural dynamics - and he's very trusted by all parties.' Those close to Kushner in the administration gave full-throated endorsements of his ability to strike another peace deal in the Middle East.  'He's a hell of a negotiator, he's an incredible architect of peace and he's a great visionary,' a senior Trump administration official bragged about Kushner.  'When we flew on the plane from Israel to Abu Dhabi on September 1, 2020, you could not make a phone call from Israel to Abu Dhabi,' one official recalled. 'Now the countries are defending against missiles together, they're in AI technology competition together. Jared was part of the architect of that, working for President Trump.' A second administration official said Kushner is 'kind of the only person that has the experience on their resume of having done this before,' calling the president's son-in-law 'uniquely qualified' for the negotiations.  A third was more blunt: 'Is he effective? The answer is yes. The Abraham Accords is a proof of concept for that.' Kushner's involvement in Middle East policy is nothing new. As a presidential advisor during Trump's first term, he was the primary architect of the Abraham Accords, a groundbreaking framework that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations that had previously had none.  He also oversaw the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that ended their war, a deal that had eluded the Biden administration and remained out of reach in Trump's second term until Kushner was brought back in. That ceasefire still holds. But this time around, the stakes are higher — and the complications far greater. Kushner and MBS - who are close in age - speaking at the White House in November  The President's son-in-law was central to negotiating the Abraham Accords during Trump's first term to normalize relations between Israel and Middle Eastern countries. Above he is shown with his with Ivanka at the Knesset, Israel's parliament  Now that the US and Iran are embroiled in a war, Kushner's responsibility as Middle East whisperer has taken on new levels as the globe waits with bated breath for tensions to die down and for energy prices to stabilize.  At the same time, Kushner is also tasked with delivering returns to investors in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates who have pumped billions into his Miami-based investment firm Affinity Partners.  The presidential son-in-law's dual roles have raised eyebrows in Washington and beyond, where critics question how Kushner can balance his loyalty to Trump and the US and his financial duties to his fortune-holding, state-backed investors.  'He's negotiating a war involving the Saudis, Qataris, and Emiratis at the exact same time he's negotiating new investments in his firm from the Saudis, Qataris and Emiratis,' Wyden said.  'There hasn't been a deeper, more rotten conflict of interest in our modern foreign policy, and our country becomes less safe and more corrupt every day Trump has him out there pretending to represent the American people,' Wyden, who has been investigating Kushner's dual role, shared.  Government watchdogs have also been concerned with Kushner's split life between politics and running a business.  'Since President Trump announced that he was appointing Jared Kushner as a Special Envoy in February, Kushner has continued his very high profile role in shaping this administration's foreign policy,' said Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).  'However, he has not filed a public financial disclosure that would give us insight into the various conflicts between his personal finances, his company's interests and his official duties,' she told the Daily Mail.  Kushner, technically a private citizen not employed by the government, has appeared at multiple White House events this year and is still called on for help by the West Wing  Kushner met Ivanka in 2005 and they were married in 2009. Above they are shown in 2011 But those who have worked with the President's son-in-law describe a man with high integrity who gets angered by reports that attempt to tarnish his reputation.  'He is a scrupulously honest and ethical person, he treats people respectfully, and he treats people with integrity,' one of the Trump officials said.  Kushner founded Affinity Partners in July 2021 months after leaving the White House. He serves as its founder, CEO and sole owner, through A Fin Management LLC, the firm's registered name.  According to the firm's 2025 SEC filings, it manages $6.16 billion in assets. Of that, $6.1 billion, or 99 percent, comes from foreign clients, who are not US citizens. The fund is closer to $7 billion now, a source confirmed to the Daily Mail.  The overwhelming majority of Affinity Partners' capital comes from Saudi Arabia.  The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a friend of Kushner's, committed $2 billion to the Miami-based firm.  Shortly after, hundreds of millions of dollars flowed into the fund from Emirati sources. Over $200 million flowed in from an Emirati sovereign fund, and millions more came from Abu Dhabi-based Lunate.  Qatar also got in on the action, pledging funds from the Qatar Investment Authority.  All three countries have much to lose in the ongoing US-Iran war, too.  'Jared Kushner ​has complied with ​all applicable laws and ​requirements and has ​always operated ​in the best interests ​of ​the United States,' Ian Brekke, Chief Legal Officer of Affinity, told the Daily Mail in a statement.   Kushner has batted away questions about a possible conflict of interest by arguing that he has rare experience that is fitting for a negotiator in his position.   'What people call conflicts of interest, Steve and I call experience and trusted relationships that we have throughout the world,' Kushner told 60 Minutes last year. 'If Steve and I didn't have these deep relationships, the deal that we were able to help get done that freed these hostages would not have occurred.' No one interviewed could point to any actual infractions Kushner has committed that would amount to a conflict of interest.  'I would dare someone to find one example of him taking an action or pursuing a policy or doing anything that does not further the interests of the United States,' another Trump admin official stated.  'His relationships with people in the region, and Saudi, and Qatar, and the Emirates, all across the region, serve as positive traits, not negative traits.'  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.