During President Donald Trump first term, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had access to two undisclosed foreign bank accounts linked to around $2 billion in funds from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a new book.
An excerpt from journalist Matthew Cole’s forthcoming book, Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East, details Kushner’s financial ties, and their implications for US foreign policy, Common Dreams reported on Thursday.
According to the book excerpt, Dutch intelligence operatives infiltrated Kushner’s iPhone in 2017 through a Russian hacker and discovered his access to foreign bank accounts while he served as a senior White House adviser.
The first account, known as “Alpha,” was held at First Abu Dhabi Bank and reportedly contained more than $700 million.
Cole described Alpha as a “foreign policy fund,” jointly managed by Kushner and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to finance specific foreign policy objectives.
The second account, known as “Beta,” involved a transfer of approximately $1 billion from Azerbaijan to what appeared to be a bank account at Israel’s so-called central bank.
Unlike Alpha, which was intended to advance foreign policy objectives, Beta was established “for Kushner’s personal benefit,” according to a source cited by Cole.
The book further describes discussions involving Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reportedly urged Kushner to have the money deposited in Israel, with communications taking place through David Friedman, then US ambassador to Israel.
Cole emphasized that Kushner’s unpaid advisory role did not exempt him from government ethics requirements, writing: “Although Kushner’s position as senior adviser to the president was unpaid, he was an official government employee.”
“Not only did his position require financial disclosures for ethics regulations, but each year he worked in the White House, he had to file both a public and confidential financial form known as the Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report,” Cole explained.
“Because he had access to classified government secrets,” Cole added, “Kushner was required to disclose any bank account to which he had signatory, or beneficiary, access.”
Cole further said that even if Kushner had properly disclosed the accounts, he would likely have had to register as an agent of a foreign government, given that the UAE and Saudi Arabia were “paying for his influence within the US government.”
A prosecutor who worked on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s financial empire told Cole that Kushner had “violated federal bribery laws” if he promised Saudi or Emirati officials political favors in connection with the arrangements.
The prosecutor stressed that a promise to influence Trump could raise legal concerns “even if it is just speaking to his father-in-law.”
The disclosures come as Kushner continues to play a significant role in Trump’s foreign policy while maintaining private investment interests backed by substantial funding from Persian Gulf governments, and Israeli firms.
He has been deeply involved in negotiations over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Israeli genocide in Gaza, and indirect Iran-US talks.
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