Jared Kushner defended Saudi prince after Khashoggi killing: Report
David D Kirkpatrick, Ben Hubbard, Mark Landler, Mark Mazzetti | New York Times | Dec 10, 2018, 05:37 IST
FRIENDS? President Trump’s son-in-law and West Asia adviser Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Moha... Read MoreSenior US officials were worried. Since the early months of the Trump administration, Jared Kushner, the president’s son-inlaw and West Asia adviser, had been having private, informal conversations with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the favourite son of Saudi Arabia’s king.
Given Kushner’s political inexperience, the private exchanges could make him susceptible to Saudi manipulation, said three former senior US officials. In an effort to tighten practices at the White House, a new chief of staff tried to reimpose long-standing procedures stipulating that National Security Council staff members should participate in all calls with foreign leaders.
But even with the restrictions in place, Kushner, 37, and Crown Prince Mohammed, 33, kept chatting, according to three former White House officials and two others briefed by the Saudi royal court. They said the two men were on a first-name basis, calling each other Jared and Mohammed in text messages and phone calls.
The exchanges continued even after the October 2 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who was ambushed and dismembered by Saudi agents, according to two former US officials and the two people briefed by the Saudis. As the killing set off a firestorm and US intelligence agencies concluded that it was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed, Kushner became the prince’s most important defender inside the White House, people familiar with its internal deliberations say.
Kushner’s support for Crown Prince Mohammed in the moment of crisis is a striking demonstration of a singular bond that has helped draw President Donald Trump into an embrace of Saudi Arabia as one of his most important allies.
But the ties between Kushner and Crown Prince Mohammed did not happen on their own. The crown prince and his advisers, eager to enlist US support for his hawkish policies in the region and for his own consolidation of power, cultivated the relationship with Kushner for more than two years, according to documents, emails and text messages.
A delegation of Saudis close to the crown prince visited the US as early as the month Trump was elected, the documents show, and brought back a report identifying Kushner as a crucial focal point in the courtship of the new administration. He brought to the job scant knowledge about the region, a transactional mindset and an intense focus on reaching a deal with the Palestinians that met Israel’s demands, the delegation noted.
The Saudis were trying to position themselves as essential allies who could help the Trump administration fulfill its campaign pledges. In addition to offering to help resolve the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, the Saudis offered billions of dollars in deals to buy US weapons and invest in US infrastructure. Trump later announced versions of some of these items when he made his first foreign trip: to an Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh. “The inner circle is predominantly deal-makers who lack familiarity with political customs and deep institutions, and they support Jared Kushner,” the Saudi delegation wrote of the incoming administration in a slide presentation obtained by the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar.
The courtship of Kushner appears to have worked.
Only a few months after Trump moved into the White House, Kushner was inquiring about the Saudi royal succession process and whether the US could influence it, raising fears among senior officials that he sought to help Crown Prince Mohammed, who was not yet the crown prince, vault ahead in the line for the throne, two former White House officials said. US diplomats and intelligence officials feared that the Trump administration might be seen as playing favourites in the delicate internal politics of the Saudi royal family, the officials said.
By March, Kushner helped usher the prince into a formal lunch with Trump at the White House. “The relationship between Jared Kushner and Mohammed bin Salman constitutes the foundation of the Trump policy not just toward Saudi Arabia but toward the region,” said Martin Indyk, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former West Asia envoy.
Given Kushner’s political inexperience, the private exchanges could make him susceptible to Saudi manipulation, said three former senior US officials. In an effort to tighten practices at the White House, a new chief of staff tried to reimpose long-standing procedures stipulating that National Security Council staff members should participate in all calls with foreign leaders.
But even with the restrictions in place, Kushner, 37, and Crown Prince Mohammed, 33, kept chatting, according to three former White House officials and two others briefed by the Saudi royal court. They said the two men were on a first-name basis, calling each other Jared and Mohammed in text messages and phone calls.
The exchanges continued even after the October 2 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who was ambushed and dismembered by Saudi agents, according to two former US officials and the two people briefed by the Saudis. As the killing set off a firestorm and US intelligence agencies concluded that it was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed, Kushner became the prince’s most important defender inside the White House, people familiar with its internal deliberations say.
Kushner’s support for Crown Prince Mohammed in the moment of crisis is a striking demonstration of a singular bond that has helped draw President Donald Trump into an embrace of Saudi Arabia as one of his most important allies.
But the ties between Kushner and Crown Prince Mohammed did not happen on their own. The crown prince and his advisers, eager to enlist US support for his hawkish policies in the region and for his own consolidation of power, cultivated the relationship with Kushner for more than two years, according to documents, emails and text messages.
A delegation of Saudis close to the crown prince visited the US as early as the month Trump was elected, the documents show, and brought back a report identifying Kushner as a crucial focal point in the courtship of the new administration. He brought to the job scant knowledge about the region, a transactional mindset and an intense focus on reaching a deal with the Palestinians that met Israel’s demands, the delegation noted.
The Saudis were trying to position themselves as essential allies who could help the Trump administration fulfill its campaign pledges. In addition to offering to help resolve the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, the Saudis offered billions of dollars in deals to buy US weapons and invest in US infrastructure. Trump later announced versions of some of these items when he made his first foreign trip: to an Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh. “The inner circle is predominantly deal-makers who lack familiarity with political customs and deep institutions, and they support Jared Kushner,” the Saudi delegation wrote of the incoming administration in a slide presentation obtained by the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar.
The courtship of Kushner appears to have worked.
Only a few months after Trump moved into the White House, Kushner was inquiring about the Saudi royal succession process and whether the US could influence it, raising fears among senior officials that he sought to help Crown Prince Mohammed, who was not yet the crown prince, vault ahead in the line for the throne, two former White House officials said. US diplomats and intelligence officials feared that the Trump administration might be seen as playing favourites in the delicate internal politics of the Saudi royal family, the officials said.
By March, Kushner helped usher the prince into a formal lunch with Trump at the White House. “The relationship between Jared Kushner and Mohammed bin Salman constitutes the foundation of the Trump policy not just toward Saudi Arabia but toward the region,” said Martin Indyk, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former West Asia envoy.
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