Jared Kushner is an American businessman, investor, and former government official. As the son-in-law of Donald Trump, he served as a senior advisor during Trump's presidency from 2017 to 2021. His role included directing the Office of American Innovation. Kushner's involvement in politics stemmed from his family ties to Trump, leveraging his business background to advise on various policy initiatives.
In 1949, Jared Kushner's paternal grandparents, Reichel and Joseph Kushner, Holocaust survivors, immigrated to the U.S. from Navahrudak.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy's decision to appoint his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, as attorney general triggered the anti-nepotism law.
In 1967, the anti-nepotism law was passed which forbids public officials from hiring family members, and explicitly one's son-in-law, in agencies or offices they oversee.
On January 10, 1981, Jared Corey Kushner was born. He is an American businessman, investor, and government official.
In 1993, a D.C. Circuit Court ruling enabled Hillary Clinton to serve within the White House during the Clinton administration, which influenced the OLC opinion.
In 1994, Israel normalized relations with Jordan. This is significant because the Abraham Accord, which Kushner helped broker, was the first normalization agreement between Israel and an Arab country since the normalization of relations with Jordan in 1994.
In 1998, Jared Kushner's father donated $2.5 million to Harvard University.
In 1999, Jared Kushner graduated from the Frisch School and enrolled at Harvard University.
In 2000, Jared Kushner purchased residential buildings in Somerville, Massachusetts, for $8.3 million.
In 2003, Jared Kushner graduated from Harvard with honors, earning a B.A. degree in government.
In 2004, Jared Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, pleaded guilty to eighteen felony counts of tax fraud, election violations, and witness tampering.
On March 4, 2005, Jared Kushner's father began his incarceration.
By its dissolution in 2005, Somerville Building Associates returned a profit of $20 million.
In 2005, Jared Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, was convicted of 18 criminal charges. Around 2005, Jared met Ivanka Trump.
On August 25, 2006, Jared Kushner's father was released from incarceration.
In 2006, Jared Kushner became involved in the newspaper industry after purchasing The New York Observer.
In 2007, Jared Kushner graduated with JD/MBA degrees from New York University School of Law and New York University Stern School of Business.
In 2007, Kushner Companies purchased the office building at 666 Fifth Avenue for $1.8 billion.
In 2008, Jared Kushner assumed the role of CEO in Kushner Companies.
In 2008, Jared Kushner donated to the campaign for Hillary Clinton, and his newspaper, the New York Observer, endorsed Barack Obama over John McCain in the 2008 United States presidential election.
On October 25, 2009, Jared Kushner married Ivanka Trump in a Jewish ceremony.
After expressing disappointment with Barack Obama, Jared Kushner registered as an independent in 2009.
In 2009, Jared Kushner married Ivanka Trump. Also in 2009, he registered as an Independent, after being a registered Democrat for much of his life.
In July 2011, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump had their first child, a daughter.
In 2011, Jared Kushner hired Elizabeth Spiers as editor-in-chief of The New York Observer.
In 2011, Jared Kushner purchased a 130,000-square-foot office tower at 200 Lafayette Street in Manhattan for $50 million.
In 2012, Elizabeth Spiers left The New York Observer.
In 2012, Jared Kushner endorsed Republican U.S. presidential nominee Mitt Romney via the New York Observer.
According to Vanity Fair, under Kushner, the Observer has 6 million unique visitors per month, up from 1.3 million in January 2013.
In January 2013, Jared Kushner hired Ken Kurson as the new editor-in-chief of The New York Observer.
In October 2013, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump had their second child, a son.
In 2013, Jared Kushner's company led a transaction to purchase the Jehovah's Witnesses headquarters in Brooklyn Heights for $375 million. In the same year, Kushner co-founded WiredScore.
Throughout 2013, Kushner and his company acquired more than 11,000 units throughout New York, New Jersey, and the Baltimore area.
In July 2014, Vnesheconombank (VEB), the Russian state-owned bank headed by Sergei Gorkov, came under international sanctions. Gorkov met with Jared Kushner in December 2016.
In August 2014, Jared Kushner acquired a three-building apartment portfolio in Middle River, Maryland, for $38 million with Aion Partners.
In 2014, Jared Kushner continued to donate to Democratic groups.
In 2014, Jared Kushner, with his brother Joshua and Ryan Williams, co-founded Cadre, an online real-estate investment platform.
In May 2015, Jared Kushner acquired a 50.1% stake of the Times Square Building from Africa Israel Investments Ltd. for $295 million.
In 2015, Jared Kushner joined his father-in-law Donald Trump's US presidential campaign.
In 2015, before Donald Trump secured the Republican nomination, Ivanka Trump began negotiations for a licensing deal between her clothing brand and Sanei International, a company with Japanese government investment, but backed out to avoid conflicts of interest.
In early 2015, Soros Fund Management financed Cadre with a $250 million credit line.
In March 2016, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump had their third child, another son.
In April 2016, the New York Observer endorsed United States presidential candidate Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
On June 9, 2016, Jared Kushner, along with Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort, attended a meeting at Trump Tower with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a lawyer connected to the Kremlin, who purportedly offered compromising information on Hillary Clinton. Kushner reportedly found the meeting a "waste of time" and tried to leave early.
In June 2016, Corey Lewandowski was fired in part on Jared Kushner's recommendation.
In June 2016, Jared Kushner's brother-in-law, Donald Trump Jr., was reportedly offered compromising information on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government through an agent of Emin Agalarov, which led to a meeting on June 9, 2016.
In June 2016, there was a Trump campaign-Russian meeting in which Kushner was involved.
On July 5, 2016, Jared Kushner responded to criticism regarding a Trump campaign tweet with allegedly anti-Semitic imagery by writing an open letter in the New York Observer, defending against accusations of racism and anti-Semitism. His estranged cousin, Marc, responded on Facebook, emphasizing the importance of renouncing hate, based on his grandparents' history.
In August 2016, George Nader, an emissary for the crown princes of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, offered help to the Trump presidential campaign. Mueller investigated meetings between Trump associates including Jared Kushner and George Nader.
Between April and November 2016, Jared Kushner had two undisclosed phone calls with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak.
In December 2016, George Nader attended a New York meeting between United Arab Emirates officials and Jared Kushner, Michael Flynn, and Steve Bannon.
In December 2016, Jared Kushner met with Sergei Gorkov, head of the Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank (VEB), which was under international sanctions. While initial reports cited transition-related diplomacy, VEB later claimed the meeting concerned Kushner's family real estate corporation.
In December 2016, Jared Kushner met with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. During this month, U.S. intelligence officials reportedly overheard Kislyak relaying a request from Kushner to establish a "secret and secure communications channel" with the Kremlin using Russian diplomatic facilities.
According to Eric Schmidt, Jared Kushner's role in the 2016 election was its biggest surprise.
In 2016, Chris Christie was fired from Donald Trump's election campaign team. Christie claimed that Jared Kushner was responsible for having him fired as revenge for sending his father to prison.
In 2016, Investigations began into Russian meddling in the election and in July 2017, Jared Kushner appeared before the House and Senate intelligence committees in closed session as part of these investigations.
In 2016, Ivanka applied for the trademarks due to concerns about the proliferation of knock off and counterfeits goods being sold under her name in China as her father's presidential campaign progressed.
In 2016, Jared Kushner played a significant role in the Donald Trump presidential campaign, and was at one point seen as its de facto campaign manager.
In 2016, Jared Kushner stated that he had four meetings with Russians during the presidential campaign and transition, but that none of these contacts were improper.
In 2016, Jared Kushner was the architect of Donald Trump's digital, online, and social media campaigns, enlisting talent from Silicon Valley to run "Project Alamo."
In 2016, it was revealed that Jared Kushner used a private email account for official White House business, although his lawyer stated that no classified information was transmitted.
On January 9, 2017, Jared Kushner was appointed as Senior Advisor to the President. Consequently, he resigned from his positions as CEO of Kushner Companies and publisher of the Observer.
In January 2017, Jared Kushner did not identify business relationships in his government financial-disclosure form.
In January 2017, Jared Kushner stepped down from his newspaper role to pursue a role in President Donald Trump's administration. He was replaced by his brother-in-law, Joseph Meyer.
In January 2017, Jared Kushner's appointment as Trump's senior advisor in the White House was questioned on the basis of a 1967 anti-nepotism law.
In January 2017, after being appointed as Senior Advisor to Donald Trump, Jared Kushner resigned as head of his family's real-estate firm, Kushner Companies, and partially divested himself of some assets, but he transferred ownership of some of his assets to his brother and to a trust overseen by his mother rather than selling off his assets to a third party or setting up a blind trust with outside management.
On January 18, 2017, Jared Kushner requested Top Secret security clearance, using "Standard Form 86 (SF86): Questionnaire for National Security Positions", omitting all of Kushner's contacts with foreign officials. He quickly updated his filing to notify government officials that he would supplement his disclosure to provide the required information.
On January 20, 2017, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion stating the anti-nepotism law does not apply to appointments within the White House, paving the way for Jared Kushner's role as senior advisor.
On January 22, 2017, Jared Kushner was sworn in as senior advisor and was given the office which is physically the closest to the Oval Office.
In March 2017, President Trump created the Office of American Innovation, which Jared Kushner directed from 2017 until the end of the first Trump administration in January 2021. The office aimed to solve government problems using private sector strategies.
On April 6, 2017, the same day that Kushner and Ivanka Trump dined with Chinese president Xi Jinping, the Chinese government provisionally approved three new trademarks for the Ivanka Trump brand, giving it monopoly rights to sell jewelry, bags, and spa services in China.
In April 2017, reports surfaced that Trump intended to withdraw from NAFTA. Kushner worked with counterparts in the Mexican and Canadian governments and convinced Trump to set aside these plans and instead enter into formal trade negotiations.
In May 2017, Jared Kushner's attorney, Jamie Gorelick, stated that Kushner had participated in "thousands of calls in this time period" and did not recall any with Kislyak, regarding phone calls that happened between April and November 2016.
In May 2017, Robert Lighthizer was confirmed as United States Trade Representative, and formal negotiations commenced, leading on the technical aspects of the discussions while Kushner managed the relationships with the Mexican and Canadian governments.
In May 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported that Jared Kushner had failed to disclose all required financial information in his security clearance applications, including owing $1 billion in loans. During 2017, Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump reportedly made $82 million in outside income while serving as senior White House advisors.
In June 2017, amid a naval blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Jared Kushner reportedly backed the Saudis and Emiratis, undermining efforts to resolve the conflict and pressuring President Trump to support them.
By July 2017, Jared Kushner had updated his SF86, disclosing contacts with foreign nationals and making government officials aware of the June 2016 Trump campaign–Russian meeting and Kushner's role in it.
In July 2017, Jared Kushner appeared before the House and Senate intelligence committees in closed session as part of investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and released a public statement.
On August 24, 2017, Jared Kushner traveled to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following this, he visited Palestine to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas, aiming to restart the Middle East peace process.
On September 15, 2017, Jared Kushner was recorded as having an interim Top Secret/SCI security clearance, granting him and his wife access to sensitive compartmented information.
In October 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee requested numerous documents from Jared Kushner related to investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
In early November 2017, Jared Kushner was interviewed by investigators from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office. The interview reportedly focused on former national security advisor Michael Flynn.
In 2017, federal disclosures suggested that Jared Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, had assets worth at least $240 million and as much as $740 million. They also have an art collection, estimated to be worth millions, that was not mentioned in the financial disclosures initially.
On February 27, 2018, Jared Kushner's interim security clearance was downgraded to "secret" status, along with other White House staffers, due to the Rob Porter scandal and ongoing investigation by Robert Mueller.
In May 2018, Donald Trump reportedly ordered John Kelly to grant Jared Kushner a top-secret clearance, with Kelly documenting the order in an internal memo.
On May 23, 2018, Jared Kushner received permanent Top Secret security clearance.
On September 30, 2018, Lighthizer stated that the $1.3 trillion trade deal “would not have happened” without Kushner's efforts. In recognition of these efforts, President Peña Nieto awarded Kushner the Order of the Aztec Eagle.
In December 2018, President Trump signed the bipartisan criminal justice reform bill FIRST STEP Act into law, supported by Jared Kushner. The legislation implemented reforms to the American prison and criminal justice systems, reducing sentences for non-violent offenders and improving prison programs.
In 2018, Jared Kushner led the Trump administration's effort to pass the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill.
In 2018, Jared Kushner registered as a Republican.
In January 2019, Donald Trump told The New York Times that he had not intervened to grant Jared Kushner's security clearances.
On February 8, 2019, Jared Kushner's wife Ivanka also denied that Trump had intervened to grant her or Kushner's security clearances.
On February 28, 2019, it was reported that in May 2018 Donald Trump ordered John Kelly to grant Jared Kushner a top-secret clearance, documented in an internal memo. This was reportedly the first time a U.S. president had intervened in such a way.
In June 2019, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee made a criminal referral of Jared Kushner to federal prosecutors due to concerns that his testimony was contradicted by Richard Gates, a former Trump campaign aide. The referral did not accuse Kushner of making false statements.
In June 2019, during an HBO/Axios interview, Jared Kushner denied that President Trump was a racist and spoke of his family's immigration history. He defended the Trump administration's decision to drastically reduce the number of refugees accepted by the United States.
In October 2019, Jared Kushner was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and underwent treatment during the first Trump administration.
In January 2020, UN investigators advised that Kushner and others in contact with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was reportedly involved in the hacking of Jeff Bezos's phone through WhatsApp communications, should take measures to protect their communications.
In January 2020, the transcript of Jared Kushner's interview with FBI investigators was not publicly released as ordered by a federal judge, with the Justice Department citing the need for a security review.
On January 28, 2020, Donald Trump formally unveiled a peace plan authored by Jared Kushner alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The plan offered Palestinians a conditional path to an independent state but was criticized for favoring Israel. Palestinian representatives were not invited to the unveiling.
On March 11, 2020, Kushner helped write the Oval Office address that President Trump gave to the nation on the coronavirus, along with Trump's advisor Stephen Miller. The address was "widely panned". In the address, Trump blamed Europeans and the Chinese for the virus, describing the virus as a "foreign virus".
In March 2020, it was reported that Jared Kushner had sold stakes in a firm that benefitted from Opportunity Zone tax breaks, which are incentives for investment in low-income communities that he had promoted as a White House advisor.
On March 30, 2020, The Atlantic reported that a website that Trump had said would help Americans to diagnose themselves and direct them to a nearby coronavirus testing site in a March 13 press conference had been a project between the government and Oscar Health, a company that Kushner had ties with. The website was quickly scrapped.
During March and April 2020, Jared Kushner reportedly used WhatsApp to communicate with his coronavirus team.
In April 2020, Kushner publicly defended the administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic. He said, "The notion of the federal stockpile is that it's supposed to be our stockpile. It's not supposed to be states' stockpiles that they then use."
In April 2020, the Department of Defense revealed a shortage of ventilators in the strategic national stockpile. Kushner described the administration's response to the coronavirus as "a great success story," despite the ongoing challenges. Kushner's team of volunteers struggled to procure PPE. No ventilators were produced from an $86 million contract advised by Kushner's team.
In May 2020, Kushner reportedly told those involved in the coronavirus response that the coronavirus was under control and that there would not be a second wave, despite the ongoing pandemic.
By June 2020, coronavirus cases were surging in the United States. It was revealed that businesses owned by the Kushner family obtained coronavirus relief, which raised concerns with potential conflicts of interests due to Kushner's White House role.
In August 2020, when 170,000 had died from the coronavirus in the United States, Jared Kushner reiterated his claim from April 2020 that the administration's response had been a "success story."
On September 15, 2020, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain officially committed to the normalization deals with the signing of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House.
On November 30, 2020, Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz traveled to Saudi Arabia for negotiations on the Qatar diplomatic crisis, aiming to mediate a deal between the Saudis and the Qataris.
On December 10, 2020, President Trump announced that Israel and Morocco agreed to establish full diplomatic relations, which was negotiated by Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz. As part of the deal, the United States agreed to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara.
According to reporting by Axios in 2020, Trump expressed regrets in private about having followed Jared Kushner's lead in going through with the First Step Act.
In 2020, Jared Kushner was the primary Trump administration participant for the Middle East Peace Process, authoring the Trump peace plan and facilitating the talks that led to the signing of the Abraham Accords.
In 2020, Jared Kushner's ownership stake in Cadre was estimated at $25-50 million.
In 2020, Kushner started writing a memoir, made plans to move his family to Miami, and focused on his project of Middle East diplomacy.
On January 5, 2021, Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz attended the GCC Summit in Saudi Arabia, where the parties signed an agreement ending the Qatar diplomatic crisis, following negotiations that Kushner was involved in.
On January 6, 2021, during the United States Capitol attack, Jared Kushner was returning from a diplomatic trip around the Persian gulf states.
On January 11, 2021, Jared Kushner arranged a meeting between vice-president Mike Pence and Donald Trump to try to reconcile their relationship.
In January 2021, Jared Kushner's tenure as director of the Office of American Innovation concluded with the end of the first Trump administration, after having directed the office since 2017.
In May 2021, it was reported that Jared Kushner's Secret Service security team accompanied him to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, incurring US State Department costs of $12,950. The security detail booked 50 "room nights" at Abu Dhabi's Ritz-Carlton hotel between May 5 and 14. Ethics watchdogs raised concerns regarding Kushner's financial connections with the UAE.
In 2021, Jared Kushner left his position as senior advisor when Donald Trump left office. Since leaving the White House, he founded Affinity Partners, a private equity firm.
In 2021, Jared Kushner started Affinity Partners, an investment firm. He sought funds from sovereign wealth funds of Gulf countries, including the Saudi government's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which later invested $2 billion despite internal concerns.
Since 2021, Kushner's fund had made $157 million in management fees.
On March 31, 2022, Jared Kushner voluntarily spoke to the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack for six hours. He was the highest-ranking Trump administration official interviewed to date, as well as the first Trump family member to be interviewed.
In April 2022, it was reported that Jared Kushner's investment firm, Affinity Partners, primarily depended on Saudi money, having only $2.5 billion under its management at the time.
On June 2, 2022, the House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into whether Jared Kushner traded on his government position to secure a deal with the Saudi government's Public Investment Fund (PIF) for his investment firm, Affinity Partners.
In August 2022, Jared Kushner underwent a second thyroid surgery.
In August 2022, Jared Kushner's memoir, Breaking History: A White House Memoir, was published.
In 2023, Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie criticized Jared Kushner and Donald Trump for Kushner's deal with Saudi Arabia, questioning why Kushner was sent to the Middle East and highlighting the $2 billion investment from the Saudis to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump after Kushner left office.
In March 2024, Jared Kushner described the Gaza Strip as “valuable waterfront property” and suggested relocating Palestinians to the Negev desert or Rafah while the territory was “cleaned up” during an appearance at the Harvard Kennedy School.
On July 8, 2024, Jared Kushner succeeded Javier Holtz, joining the Village of Indian Creek council as a Village Trustee.
As of 2024, Jared Kushner's fund, Affinity, had made $157 million in management fees since 2021. The fund is under Senate investigation for possible foreign influence buying ahead of the 2024 election.
In 2024, it was suggested that payments to Kushner were meant to curry favor with Donald Trump's family should he retake the White House. The House Oversight Committee Chairman, Kentucky Republican James Comer, said he believes Kushner “crossed the line of ethics” by accepting the investment from Saudi Arabia.
In September 2025, Forbes reported Jared Kushner to be a billionaire.
In September 2025, Jared Kushner spearheaded a purchase of Electronic Arts with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Silver Lake. The deal faced potential regulatory scrutiny, but some expected it to go through due to Kushner and Saudi Arabia's influence.
In December 2025, Jared Kushner, along with Steve Witkoff, traveled to Moscow as part of a U.S. delegation in Trump's second administration. They met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a revised U.S. peace proposal aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
In 2025, Jared Kushner returned to an informal advisory role in the second Trump administration, serving as a key intermediary in diplomatic negotiations regarding the Gaza war and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On February 28, 2026, following the collapse of nuclear negotiations, the United States and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran, known as Operation Epic Fury.
In March 2026, Representative Robert Garcia and Senator Ron Wyden sent letters to the White House seeking information on Jared Kushner’s business dealings in the Middle East, citing reports that Kushner's private equity firm was soliciting billions of dollars in investments from regional governments while he simultaneously served as a negotiator.
On March 20, 2026, Donald Trump signaled a potential "winding down" of military operations in Iran, citing nearing completion of objectives, while Kushner and Witkoff were reported to be exploring a return to diplomacy based on previous Geneva frameworks.
In early 2026, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner led high-stakes nuclear negotiations with Iranian officials in Geneva. British National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, who attended the talks, characterized Tehran's proposal as "surprising" and substantial, suggesting a diplomatic breakthrough remained possible.
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