In the first year of Donald Trump’s second presidency, his son-in-law is casually consolidating economic and political power with staggering speed.
Kushner has positioned himself at the center of the biggest media merger in years and at the fulcrum of White House foreign policy, all while taking in multi-billion-dollar investments from autocratic governments.
After leaving the first Trump administration, Kushner raised over $3 billion for Affinity Partners, including $2 billion from the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund.
As of late 2024, Kushner had still not produced meaningful returns for these foreign governments, yet he had paid himself at least $157 million in fees.
Kushner has taken a victory lap, claiming that his “deep personal relationships” in the region made the deal possible.
Kushner and Witkoff, neither of whom hold formal government positions, were allowed to meet with the Russian president before even some Cabinet-level officials.
All the while, as Kushner maneuvers behind the scenes, the right-wing assault on media independence continues to escalate. »