Category Archives: Jared Kushner

The Guardian view on Trump’s ‘peace plan’: a con, not a deal | Editorial

Posted on by
A two-state solution came about as the result of a rules-based world order, which Mr Trump detests because it is inimical to the raw power that he prefers to govern global affairs

Donald Trump’s Arab-Israeli peace plan rests upon the absurdity of the Palestinians accepting a state in name alone. Since 1993’s Oslo accords, hope had been kindled that a “Palestine” could be created from most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with its capital in East Jerusalem. The Trump administration’s document pays lip service to such an entity while shrinking its size and mutilating its scope to non-existence. It envisages the potential transfer of Palestinian towns out of Israel. It contains a blatant attempt to stop Palestinians seeking justice for war crimes – including those currently under way. Mr Trump boasts he is a dealmaker, offering $50bn in investment if Palestinians trade away their civil and national rights. But Palestinians see a conman with no intention of making good on empty promises.

This proposal is a sop to rightwing ideologues in the US and Israel. It ends the charade that Mr Trump could play a mediating role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has good reason to think his visit to Washington is his finest hour. He once warned Israel would be in mortal danger if a viable Palestine existed alongside it. The indications are Mr Netanyahu’s cabinet will vote in days to begin annexing all settlements in the West Bank as well as the Jordan Valley. The old gibe against the Palestinians – that they never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity for peace – is singularly inappropriate. Mr Trump’s blatant support for Israel and his snub of the Palestinians in drafting his plan has let Mr Netanyahu do whatever he wants.

Continue reading...

Trump to meet Israeli leaders as doubts over ‘peace plan’ grow

Posted on by

Netanyahu’s trip a welcome distraction from indictment while election opponent Gantz also visits White House

Donald Trump is set to disclose details of his much-delayed Middle East “peace plan” during meetings with Israeli leaders in Washington on Monday, amid a rising global chorus of doubt about its timing and substance.

The choreography between the US and Israel has been interpreted as a convenient distraction for both Trump, who faces an impeachment trial, and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces three criminal corruption indictments and an uncertain election campaign.

Continue reading...

From Bezos to Bush: Saudi crown prince met array of VIPs on US tour

Posted on by

It is not known how many people Prince Mohammed shared WhatsApp messages with in 2018 other than Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos was far from the only American VIP who met Saudi Arabia’s crown prince in the spring of 2018. During a coast-to-coast tour Mohammed bin Salman had personal encounters with dozens of celebrities, politicians and tech titans including George Bush, Richard Branson and Bill Gates.

Continue reading...

American Oligarchs review: Trump, Kushner and the melding of money and power

Posted on by

Andrea Bernstein delivers the goods on the bad business which propelled two New York families to Washington

America’s cold civil war rages, impeachment inches ahead and Donald Trump remains a focal point of conflict. As for Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, he is markedly more unpopular than his wife, her father or her gun-toting brother. Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump are rated among the top Republican contenders for 2024.

Related: Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump ‘knew they were lying’ over ploy to sell condos, book claims

Continue reading...

Trump: if Jared Kushner can’t achieve peace in Middle East, ‘it can’t be done’

Posted on by

President also told Israeli American Council summit some Jewish people in the US don’t love Israel enough and attacked Ilhan Omar

If Jared Kushner cannot achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Donald Trump claimed on Saturday, “it can’t be done”.

The president also told the Israeli American Council national summit some Jewish people in America don’t love Israel enough, a remark some said was antisemitic, and attacked the Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar for what he called her “despicable rhetoric” about Israel.

Continue reading...

Nancy Pelosi takes aim at Trump and ‘slumlord’ Jared Kushner – as it happened

Posted on by

As Trump carries on with his rally in North Carolina, we’re going to wrap up the liveblog for today. Check The Guardian’s homepage for updates.

Congressman Will Hurd of Texas, a critic of Trump and one of the few Republican lawmakers who voted to condemn Trump’s racist attacks, announced that he will not be seeking reelection in order to “pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress”.

I have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd Congressional District of Texas in order to pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security. https://t.co/GeZ4Hh264f

Continue reading...

Jared Kushner’s ‘deal of the century’ fails to materialise in Bahrain

Posted on by

Senior adviser to Trump found no interest in his proposals for ending Israel/Palestine conflict

In the end, the ‘deal of the century’ was little more than a failed clearance sale. Jared Kushner arrived in Bahrain touting bedrock principles at untenable discounts. And even then there were no buyers.

The conference that was supposed to offer a new way out of the malaise of the Israel/Palestine conflict provided little of the sort. Its central premise of prosperity as a precursor to a lasting solution barely appeared to register on either side of the separation wall.

Continue reading...

Kushner plan leaves Middle East deal seeming further away than ever

Posted on by

Plan demands Palestinians put a price on their surrender or risk losing even more ground

In the long, lamented history of Israeli-Palestinian peace plans, rarely have expectations been so low. As Jared Kushner took to the stage in Bahrain to effectively lay waste to decades of doctrine on how to solve the conflict, a solution seemed more out of reach than ever.

Kushner’s proposal has been put together by hardliners who have tossed out the rulebook and written a formula of their own serving the interests of the Israeli rightwing.

Continue reading...

Phase one of US Middle East peace plan greeted with scepticism

Posted on by

No Israelis or Palestinians present for launch of plan that shreds decades of diplomacy

The first phase of the Trump administration’s long-awaited peace plan for Israel and Palestine has been rolled out to scepticism, anger and outright derision.

A conference hall of regional officials – with no Israelis or Palestinians present – was the first to hear details of the US-brokered deal, an economic blueprint that shreds decades of diplomacy and which even its mooted financial backers seemed reluctant to embrace.

Continue reading...

Jared Kushner’s economic blueprint for Palestinians faces boycott and derision

Posted on by

Trump son-in-law’s plan, which ignores the key political issues, is dismissed as ‘a fantasy that is completely divorced from reality’

A US-designed economic blueprint for Israeli-Palestinian peace will be launched in Bahrain on Tuesday, without the participation of either Palestinian or Israeli officials.

The Palestinians are boycotting the conference and a late decision was taken not to invite Israelis. A relative handful of Palestinian business leaders are expected in Bahrain, for what is widely seen as a “vanity project” for Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Continue reading...

Company part-owned by Jared Kushner got $90m from unknown offshore investors since 2017

Posted on by

Overseas investment flowed to Cadre while Trump’s son-in-law works as US envoy, raising conflict of interest questions

A real estate company part-owned by Jared Kushner has received $90m in foreign funding from an opaque offshore vehicle since he entered the White House as a senior adviser to his father-in-law Donald Trump.

Investment has flowed from overseas to the company, Cadre, while Kushner works as an international envoy for the US, according to corporate filings and interviews. The money came through a vehicle run by Goldman Sachs in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven that guarantees corporate secrecy.

Continue reading...

House antitrust investigation targets Facebook, Google and others – live

Posted on by

Looks like it’s going to be a twofer on 11 June:

NEW: House Majority @LeaderHoyer says contempt vote Tuesday, June 11th will be for both Attorney General Barr AND former White House Counsel McGahn “to comply with Congressional subpoenas that have been duly issued by the House Judiciary Committee”

Mark your calendars. It’s looking like the contempt proceedings for attorney general William Barr, who skipped out on his House judiciary committee hearing last month after a barnburner of a Senate judiciary committee hearing, are set to begin next week.

CONFIRMED: House Dems voting next week to hold AG Bill Barr in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over unredacted Mueller Report, sources in leadership meeting say. Politico first reported.

Others could also receive House floor vote, including former WH lawyer Don McGahn, according to sources. https://t.co/64tMAfAq9T

The full House will vote on June 11th to hold AG Barr in contempt of Congress for not complying w/ the House Judiciary Cmte’s subpoena for Mueller's full unredacted report + underlying evidence, according to 3 Dem sources. Still TBD if other ppl are included in this contempt vote

Continue reading...

Jared Kushner expresses doubt that Palestinians can self-govern

Posted on by

White House senior adviser says he hopes Palestinians will become ‘capable of governing’ and denies Trump is racist in rare interview

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner has expressed uncertainty over the ability of Palestinians to self-govern, in a rare television interview broadcast on Sunday night.

Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and an architect of the White House’s yet-to-be-released Middle East peace plan, told the “Axios on HBO” television program it would be a “high bar” when asked if the Palestinians could expect freedom from Israeli military and government interference.

Continue reading...

Political chaos in Israel deals blow to Jared Kushner’s peace plan

Posted on by

Snap polls threaten Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ as Netanyahu reveals gift of map from his son-in-law during visit

Jared Kushner’s visit to Jerusalem to promote his troubled Middle East peace plan appeared to abruptly lose its remaining energy after an overnight crisis in Israeli politics plunged the country into a months-long election campaign.

With no guarantees that Benjamin Netanyahu’s Trump-friendly government will stay in power past the summer, any progress made with Kushner – Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser – is at risk of being revoked by the next Israeli administration.

Continue reading...

Qatari PM to attend Saudi Arabia summit after two-year blockade

Posted on by

Gulf Cooperation Council will meet to discuss Iran’s alleged role in Gulf drone attacks

A possible US-backed thaw in Qatari-Saudi relations has been signalled by Qatari diplomats travelling to Saudi Arabia to lay the ground for their country’s attendance at a major summit in Mecca on alleged Iranian aggression in the region.

Qatar’s attendance will be seen as the biggest rapprochement between the two countries since the Saudis launched a sweeping economic and political blockade against the gas-rich country two years ago, accusing Doha of trying to undermine Saudi Arabia, fund terrorism and promote the Muslim Brotherhood across the Middle East.

Continue reading...

US to hold Bahrain economic conference to launch Middle East peace plan

Posted on by
  • Official does not confirm Israeli and Palestinian attendance
  • Palestinians believe peace plan will be in favour of Israel

The US will hold an international economic “workshop” in Bahrain in late June, seeking to encourage investment in the Palestinian territories as the first part of Donald Trump’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan, the White House said on Sunday.

Related: The ‘ultimate deal’? For Israel, maybe. We Palestinians will never accept it | Hanan Ashrawi

Continue reading...

Trump’s ‘merit-based’ immigration plan declared ‘dead on arrival’ by opponents

Posted on by

President called plan to transform the nation’s green card system ‘pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker’

Donald Trump has announced plans for “merit-based” legal immigration – but before the US president even stepped up to the lectern in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday afternoon, opponents declared the sweeping reforms “dead on arrival”.

Trump appeared to acknowledge as much when he warned that Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, might block the changes – a sign of his political impotence as the next presidential election draws ever closer.

Continue reading...

‘Let’s just not say it’: Jared Kushner says ‘two-state’ label hinders Middle East talks

Posted on by

Trump son-in-law says upcoming Middle East peace plan will be ‘very acceptable’ to Palestinians

Jared Kushner has revealed aspects of the US peace plan for the Middle East, indicating it would pull back from longstanding mentions of a two-state solution with the Palestinians and accept Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Kushner, the son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, is expected to present a long-awaited deal next month on behalf of the US administration, which has closely aligned itself with Israel’s rightwing.

Continue reading...

Jared Kushner dubs Trump-Russia investigation ‘a big distraction’

Posted on by

President’s son-in-law and senior adviser dismissed concerns about Russian spying operations at Time 100 summit

Jared Kushner has played down Russian interference in the 2016 US election, describing Moscow’s attack as “a bunch of Facebook ads” and calling Robert Mueller’s two-year special counsel investigation “a big distraction”.

Speaking at the Time 100 summit in New York City on Tuesday, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser dismissed concerns about Russian spying operations laid out in alarming detail over 199 pages of the Mueller report released last week.

Continue reading...

Netanyahu will now feel free to pursue hardline agenda of confrontation | Simon Tisdall

Posted on by

Election victory gives Israeli PM confidence he will get his way on Iran and Palestine

His supporters call him a magician. And there is truly something uncanny about how Benjamin Netanyahu has conjured up three-way US, Russian and Arab support for his hardline security and nationalist agenda. For a small country, Israel packs an ever bigger punch – and pugnacious Bibi’s likely fifth term presages a new era of escalating confrontation.

First in line for the Netanyahu treatment is Iran. He claimed credit on Monday for Donald Trump’s unprecedented decision to brand Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, including its al-Quds force, a foreign terrorist organisation. The provocative move, akin to singling out the US marine corps for punishment, bought a vengeful riposte from Tehran.

Continue reading...