Kushner's Role Blurs Line Between Public Service and Private Gain
NEWS & RESEARCH
During the first Trump administration, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, was heavily involved in peace negotiations and other work in the Middle East. In 2021, Kushner started Affinity Partners, a private equity and investment management firm. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates invested billions in the venture. After the 2024 presidential election, Kushner said that he would not be involved with the second Trump administration to avoid any conflicts between Affinity and his government work. However, in summer 2025, Kushner returned to the White House and is now a “Special Peace Envoy.” Since then, he has intertwined his personal business with diplomacy. In January 2026, Kushner attended the World Economic Forum at Davos as an official member of the U.S. delegation. During the same trip, he also discussed his plans to raise $5 billion in new investments for Affinity in private meetings with international business leaders.
SOURCES: New York Times | Politico | The Guardian
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Kushner appears to be using the access and influence of his public role and personal relationship with the president to benefit his private business. Congress has enacted several financial disclosure, conflict-of-interest, and ethics laws to address this situation. Kushner insists that he is complying with all relevant laws, but the public has yet to see any of his disclosures. Watchdog organizations such as CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) believe that Kushner’s appointment places him on the same level as other envoys who have filed public financial disclosure required by the Office of Government Ethics (“OGE”) regulations.
SOURCES: CREW letter | Popular Information | CREW | Maddow Blog
HOW TO FIX IT
Federal action:
Support investigations by the Senate Finance Committee and the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees into potential conflicts of interest between Affinity and Kushner’s work.
Support Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Jamie Raskin’s referral of Kushner to the DOJ for potential Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violations. They argue that managing over $6 billion—primarily from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE—while simultaneously shaping U.S. foreign policy represents a "compensation scheme" meant to bypass disclosure laws.
Encourage Congress to amend laws such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and the Ethics in Government Act to ensure that Americans engaged in diplomacy are held to the highest standards from the beginning of their paid or volunteer service.
Require the White House to release ethics determinations, waivers, recusal analyses, or financial disclosure reports associated with Kushner's role.
Enforce the Foreign Emoluments Clause (U.S. Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 9, Cl. 8), which bars any person holding an "Office of Profit or Trust" under the US from accepting gifts, emoluments, or titles from foreign states without congressional approval.
