President Donald Trump has reportedly brought in his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to help him plan for his big upcoming trip to the Middle East.
Kushner has been secretly advising administration officials on how best to negotiate with Arab leaders as Trump hopes to secure “economic agreements” with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, according to sources close to Kushner and the administration, CNN reported.
In Trump’s first term, Kushner served as Trump’s “chief negotiator” on the Middle East, where he had a hand in negotiating the Abraham Accords, bilateral agreements marking normalizing relations between Israel and Arab nations.
According to CNN, Kushner, along with other Trump advisers, has been plotting to expand the treaties to include more nations.
A White House official confirmed to CNN that such an expansion is a “topic of discussion.”
A senior Trump administration official involved in the talks said they “fully expect other countries to sign (agreements) first before Saudi,” adding that they are engaged in conversations with a “wide range of countries.”
However, sources said Kushner’s foray back into politics is only a one-time affair after he said he would not take an active role in his father-in-law’s second term.
After Trump’s first term, Kushner bowed out of politics to run his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, which is fueled by investments from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
He told Axios in February last year that he is committed to “my investors, to my firm, to my employees, to my partners, and that’s what I’m planning to do.”
“I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity as a family to be out of the spotlight,” Kushner told Axios. He added that he and his wife, Ivanka Trump, have “both really enjoyed the opportunity to be down here in Florida with the kids.”
Ivanka has also opted not to resume her nebulous role as an adviser to her father and has instead focused on a pet project: produce.
Ivanka reportedly spoke publicly for the first time since her father took office again at the Heartland Summit in Bentonville, Arkansas. CNN reported Thursday that she was interviewed by Arianna Huffington about her produce business, Planet Harvest.
“Her participation in this is about regional private sector innovation,” a source told CNN. She was also there in the name of “supporting small farmers” and “strengthening access to fresh food and uplifting communities.”
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