Jared Kushner quietly advising Trump administration ahead of Middle East trip
Source: CNN Politics
Published 11:00 AM EDT, Fri May 9, 2025
CNN — As President Donald Trump prepares for the first major foreign trip to the Middle East of his second term, some administration officials have privately turned to a familiar face for help navigating the region: Jared Kushner.
The president’s son-in-law, who served as a chief Middle East negotiator in Trump’s first term and built deep relationships with leaders in the region, has been informally advising administration officials on negotiations with Arab leaders, multiple Trump administration officials and people close to Kushner tell CNN. Though Kushner is unlikely to join Trump on the trip, he has been heavily involved in discussions with Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, about signing agreements that would normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, the sources said.
The president’s top priority next week is to procure “economic agreements” with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, his three stops on the trip, that would enhance their investments in America, the sources said. But Kushner and other Trump advisers have also been privately plotting the more ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords, the treaties negotiated during Trump’s first term between several Arab Nations and Israel, the sources said. “That is a topic of discussion,” one senior White House official told CNN.
Kushner was central to getting the UAE, which Trump is also visiting next week, to sign the normalization agreement in 2020. He has been closely advising the broader Trump team on how to approach sensitive talks with Saudi leaders on the trip, the sources said. Kushner’s role in helping guide officials for the trip has not been previously reported.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/politics/jared-kushner-trump-middle-east-trip
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