Jared Kushner defends his work as Special Envoy following ‘deeply misleading’ mainstream report
An investigative report from a mainstream media outlet made several brow-raising allegations about Kushner’s ties to an Israeli company amid the war with Iran. Kushner strongly refuted the report and defended his record. What is at the heart of this story?
Analysis by Summer Lane | October 5, 2026
A few days ago, a mainstream media network published a report alleging that Jared Kushner, a high-profile businessman and current U.S. Special Envoy, had a potential conflict of interest in his work as a negotiator in the Middle East.
“At the same time Jared Kushner has acted as a key negotiator in the war in Gaza, his private equity company, Affinity Partners, has held the largest stake in an Israeli firm backing businesses involved in Israel’s military campaigns, a CNN investigation has found,” the opening line read.
The report was bold and accusatory, alleging that Kushner – who is also married to President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka – has “carved out an unprecedented dual role under the Trump administration – one that blends lucrative business and high-stakes politics amid a devastating war.”
Kushner’s position as a special envoy for this second term stands in stark contrast to his work during President Trump’s first term. Then, his role was more visible. Like his wife, Ivanka, he served as an advisor to the president. They were seen often in the White House. Neither took a paycheck for their work.
This time around, Ivanka Trump is not part of the administration. Her husband’s position as a Special Envoy is a volunteer appointment, and it has been largely behind the scenes. However, the work is extremely important: Kushner and his fellow Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, have met with Iranian negotiators as they have sought to end the war with Iran. The duo has also met with Russian mediators amid the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Thus far, neither conflict has resulted in a deal.
CNN’s report hasn’t been shy about what it’s suggesting: they are implying that Kushner – or at least his company – has allegedly benefited greatly from the war in the Middle East. One of the companies highlighted by the outlet’s investigation is Phoenix Financial, a Tel Aviv-based company.
CNN alleged that Affinity doubled its stake in the company “last year, shortly before Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office.”
Such reporting prompted a response from Kushner himself – a rare occurrence.
“CNN published a deeply misleading story and headline suggesting that my diplomatic work in the Middle East somehow benefited investments in Israeli defense companies,” Kushner said in a statement posted online. “But CNN’s own reporting says otherwise. Buried behind a paywall, it acknowledges: ‘CNN found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed.’ Phoenix is not a defense company. It is one of Israel’s largest publicly traded financial institutions, highly regulated and managing approximately $220 billion across thousands of investments.”
Kushner said that Phoenix was like the “Israeli equivalent of Vanguard or Fidelity.”
“It manages the retirement savings of millions of Israelis,” he continued. “The savers don’t choose the individual investments, and neither do I. I have no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells. It has performed very well for Affinity and our investors, up more than five times since our initial investment.”
Kushner also said that Affinity’s investment in Phoenix was public and predated President Trump’s reelection (and therefore before Kushner’s return to public service).
“Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together and pursue peace,” he said. “That work is too important.”
Trump allies rally behind Kushner
Kushner has no shortage of allies in the U.S.
“This country is so fortunate to have you,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services. “Those of us who actually see what you are doing ,and understand the difficulties, consider you the indispensable man.”
And, in responding to one of Kushner’s posts on X discussing how he largely ignores the “false and misleading stories about me” in the media, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk remarked, “This is the way[.]”
Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager and the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management (he endorsed President Trump in 2024), praised Kushner as a “first-class human being.”
He argued, “We are extremely fortunate to have him representing our country’s interests in negotiations for peace, hostage return, or otherwise. It is pathetic how people attempt to take down others out of spite, envy, political calculation or otherwise.”
The crux of the issue
The bottom line of this controversy over Jared Kushner boils down to one simple thing: Kushner is not an elected official. He is not subject to any type of traditional Congressional oversight. He reports privately and directly to the President of the United States. Some support this strongly. Some do not.
A good example of the blurred line of delineation between an elected or confirmed administration official’s work and Kushner’s volunteer status is the recent meeting he held with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The private meeting was seemingly shrouded in mystery, and it did raise a fair question: why was Kushner involved in such a meeting, when he is neither serving in the U.S. Congress nor acting in an official capacity for the current White House administration? Supporters of Kushner’s work are likely to argue that it’s because the president’s son-in-law is simply very good at negotiating with critics of the administration.
Even Rep. Jeffries defended his meeting with Kushner, according to The New York Times, and said that he and the president’s son-in-law discussed “the affordability crisis that exists, that is not a hoax.”
There’s no doubt that Jared Kushner has remained an important asset to the Trump White House. His work as a key negotiator in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe is something that most of the general public probably thinks little about – because it affects their lives in precisely no way whatsoever.
However, some take issue with Kushner’s volunteer position, the general lack of Congressional oversight (although a Democrat-led House could certainly be capable of launching investigations and probes into Kushner – something they did during Trump’s first term), and the highly private nature of his work as he represents the United States on the world stage – and by proxy, represents President Trump.
Photo: Adobe Stock
