Donald Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner doesn’t want to talk about the $2 billion he received from a fund led by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2021, two years after the latter approved the murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
When faced with a question about the deal during an interview at the Axios BFD conference in Miami on Tuesday, Kushner asked, “Are we really still doing this?”
The investment into Kushner’s Affinity Fund came under scrutiny after the payment was accepted before the Department of National Intelligence (DNI) released its report that found Mohammad bin Salman was personally responsible for Khashoggi’s murder. After Axios business editor Dan Primark asked if he agreed with the results of the DNI’s report, Kushner hit back.
“Are we really still doing this, Dan?” After Primark answered, “Yeah, absolutely,” Kushner added, “So, so, let’s go to this. The way that we looked at our policy at the time was let’s focus on what is in the interest of—” before Primark interjected, “No, no, I’m not arguing that. At the time you said you wanted to wait and see what the—kind of what the US government determined.”
“US government’s made a determination,” he continued. “You’re obviously still in business with him. Do you—do you believe the US government assessment? You might not.”
“So let me say this,” Kushner answered, “I’ve seen the DNI report that the Biden administration put out there, right, and number two is, look, I know the person who I dealt with. I think he’s a visionary leader.”
“I think what he’s done in that region is transformational,” Kushner said of the country’s de facto leader. “I think what’s happened there is absolutely critical. The person who deserves credit for that is Mohammed bin Salman, who at that time was the deputy crown prince, and I think what he’s done has been absolutely historic for the country.”
“I think he’s done a lot of things that are in America’s interest and I think he’s done a lot of things that have made the world a better place,” Kushner concluded.
Earlier in the exchange, Kushner praised bin Salman and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) as “one of the most prestigious investors in the world.”
“Every fund manager’s trying to work with them,” he added. “If you look at right now, at the time, maybe going into the Middle East as an investor was less popular three years ago—now it’s one of the hottest places in the world where everyone’s trying to raise money from.”
“What they’re doing in that country is absolutely incredible, and everyone who goes there says that their mind is blown … I think what’s happening in Saudi Arabia is one of the most exciting transformations that we’re seeing in the world, of a country.”
Watch the interview with Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, in the video above.
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