Jared Kushner reportedly lets Saudi royalty handle his 'entire schedule' on Riyadh trips
President Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Saudi Arabia last week, spending a good chunk of time meeting with its royal court.
But officials and staffers in Riyadh's U.S. embassy say they have no idea what went on in those meetings — they weren't invited, they tell The Daily Beast. Then again, that's "normal" for Kushner's Saudi trips, one congressional source says.
Kushner is close with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and reportedly defended him as intelligence officials tied him to the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi late last year. Kushner has since taken many trips to the region in the past few years, and pretty much every time, "the royal court was handling the entire schedule," a congressional source tells The Daily Beast.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The White House noted Kushner's visit with bin Salman and King Salman last week, saying they discussed "U.S.-Saudi cooperation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and economic investment in the region," The Daily Beast writes. "But no one from the embassy in Riyadh was in the meetings" or informed about what went on, The Daily Beast continues. One State Department senior official did attend the meetings, but he specializes on Iran, one source says.
The White House countered this reporting, saying it "is not true and the sources are misinformed" and that the Riyadh embassy was involved in Kushner's visit. Read more at The Daily Beast.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Could a part-and-part mortgage help you on to the property ladder?Combining repayment and interest-only mortgages could become more popular as part of a push towards more flexible lending
-
Is social media over?Today’s Big Question We may look back on 2025 as the moment social media jumped the shark
-
Should parents stop tracking their kids?Talking Point Experts warn the line between care and control is getting murkier – and could have consequences
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
