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.
-
Did Cop30 fulfil its promise to Indigenous Brazilians?Today’s Big Question Brazilian president approves 10 new protected territories, following ‘unprecedented’ Indigenous presence at conference, both as delegates and protesters
-
The best Christmas theatre shows across the UKThe Week Recommends Tip-top festive ballets, plays and comedies to book up now
-
Crossword: November 20, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
