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Which Trump family members and in-laws have conflicts of interest?

Donald Trump’s stunning proposal to take over Gaza and turn it into a “Riviera for the Middle East” was first floated by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, illuminating the potential for family-centered conflicts of interest in his administration.

Kushner, who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, and served as an adviser in his first presidency, created headlines when he lauded the “very valuable” potential of the coastal strip’s “waterfront property” in an interview with the Harvard School of Government’s Middle East Initiative last year. Foreshadowing Trump, he proposed moving inhabitants out “to clean it up”.

As the owner of a private equity company engaged in attracting investment in property enterprises, Kushner would have a clear vested interest in Gaza real estate that was developed under the conditions envisioned this week by Trump.

This is just one of many conflicts of interest held by Kushner and members of Trump’s family, that are more prominent now in his second administration than they were in his first.

This is thanks in large part to the returning president’s habit of appointing family members, including in-laws, to government roles with responsibilities that overlap their business dealings.

It is also exacerbated by the fact that ties forged during Trump’s first presidency have spawned business relationships that create the potential for conflict as he embarks on his second spell.

Which Trump relatives expose the administration to conflicts of interest?

Jared Kushner

Kushner’s role as a White House adviser in Trump’s first term involved him in the Middle East, where he formed a connection with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sulman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia. It paves the way for possible conflicts that go above and beyond any putative property developments in Gaza.

The relationship bore fruit after Kushner formed a private equity company, Affinity Partners, in 2021, seeking to raise $7bn. Thanks to Prince Mohammed’s intervention, he has been able to raise $2bn from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund even though the committee running it originally recommended rejecting his bid, citing the “inexperience” of the company, and its excessive fees.

Last year, it was reported that the company had been paid up to $157m by Saudi Arabia and other investors without returning any profit, fuelling suspicions – enumerated in a report from the Senate finance committee at a time when it was controlled by Democrats – that the company may be a foreign influence-buying operation set up to prepare for his father-in-law returning to the presidency.

Days before Trump’s second inauguration, Kushner’s company struck a partnership deal with the Trump Organization, the president’s company, to build a Trump tower – housing a luxury hotel and apartment complex – in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, on the site of the former Yugoslav defence ministry, which was damaged in the Nato bombing campaign against Slobodan Milošević’s regime in 1999.

Although Kushner has no formal role in Trump’s second administration, his success in raising money from Saudi Arabia, as well as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, prompted a demand last October from Jamie Raskin and Ron Wyden, two senior Capitol Hill Democrats, for the then attorney general, Merrick Garland, to open an investigation into his “apparent ongoing efforts to sell political influence to the highest foreign bidder”.

Charles Kushner

Jared’s father, Charles Kushner has been nominated as ambassador to France despite having no previous diplomatic experience. He was granted a pardon by Trump near the end of his first presidency over a 2005 conviction for illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering.

Potential conflict arises because of the involvement of Kushner, a wealthy property developer, in bringing a satellite of France’s publicly owned Centre Pompidou museum to Jersey City. The project has been credited as being the “brainchild” of Kushner, who reportedly suggested the idea to the city’s mayor and proposed it be sited next to a giant apartment complex he had developed. The project is believed to involve Jersey City taxpayers paying $6m a year for the rights to the Pompidou branding, exhibitions and artworks for the next five years.

Massad Boulos

Father-in-law of Trump’s youngest daughter, Tiffany, Dr Massad Boulos has been named as a senior adviser to the president on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Born in Lebanon, he moved to Texas as a teenager and was engaged in Trump’s presidential campaign in reaching out to Arab American voters.

Boulos has burnished a reputation as a wealthy tycoon, openly boasting that he heads a company with a value in the “billions”. Trump has added to the allure by praising him as a “dealmaker” – a moniker he often reserves for himself – and as a “highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the international scene”.

However, these claims were recently undercut by New York Times reporting based on corporate documents, which showed no evidence that Boulos has any significant wealth based on his businesses. Instead, records indicated that he has spent the past two decades selling trucks and heavy machinery for a Nigeria-based company of which he is chief executive and is controlled by his father-in-law. The company made a profit of less than $66,000 last year, and Boulos’s stake in it was valued at $1.53.

Donald Trump Jr

The president’s eldest son, Trump Jr recently announced that he is joining 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm focusing on investing in conservative companies. It stands to see its business undergo a huge boost as a result of its ties to the first family.

Eric and Barron Trump

a man embracing three other men and a women

Trump’s second and youngest son respectively are both playing a role in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency platform that Eric promoted in December at a conference in the United Arab Emirates. Its investors include Justin Sun, who the Securities and Exchange Commission accused in 2023 of fraud and other securities law breaches. Sun has said he has invested $30m in Trump’s family business.

Eric told Reuters in an interview in December that steps would be taken to avoid conflicts of interests – promising “a very large wall between anything having to do with our company and anything to do with government”.

Lara Trump

The president’s daughter-in-law, wife of Eric, was until recently chair of the Republican National Committee, the GOP’s national governing body. Critics have wasted no time suggesting that her former political role owes much to her family connections. This became a particular embarrassment last week when Lara Trump appeared on the Laura Ingraham show on Fox News to support her father-in-law’s controversial comments on a deadly plane crash on the outskirts of Washington DC, which he blamed, without evidence, on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring policies among air traffic controllers. Trump was accused of hypocrisy and a lack of irony after she told Ingraham: “We should never be hiring anyone for any job other than the best person for that job.” On Wednesday, Fox News announced that Lara Trump would be hosting a weekend show starting later this month.

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