Kushner Rejects Billion-Dollar Book Claims

Jared Kushner rejected allegations in a forthcoming book that he managed billions of dollars in hidden Gulf state funds and used a compromised iPhone to coordinate diplomacy. The book, titled "Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East," asserts that Kushner had access to more than $2 billion in slush money from regional leaders. The funds were allegedly intended to buy influence within the U.S. government.

An excerpt published Thursday in Vanity Fair details how Dutch intelligence agents discovered in 2017 that Russian spies had hacked Kushner's phone. The Dutch service reportedly gained access to the device after turning a Russian agent. Once connected, the agents could see Kushner's screen and captured every image he viewed. The report claims they watched him log into a United Arab Emirates account that had received hundreds of millions of dollars from an Azerbaijani bank.

The account further alleges that Saudi Arabia and the UAE deposited at least $2 billion into several accounts tied to Kushner. One of these accounts was held at Israel's Central Bank. The owners and managers of these accounts were often presented as official government bodies or charities, but the book claims the money was meant for off-the-books diplomatic objectives. These objectives included brokering a deal to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The excerpt cites a person with knowledge of the money who said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman placed roughly $1 billion in at least one account for Kushner's personal benefit. Kushner served as a senior White House adviser during the first Trump administration, where he helped negotiate major foreign policy deals involving Israel, the Gulf states, China, and Russia. CBS News has not independently verified the details in the excerpt.

Kushner and his legal team denied the claims Thursday night. Kushner stated that the allegations were completely insane and never happened. He noted that the author provided no bank statements, wire transfer records, account numbers, or transaction dates to support the story. His attorney described the claims as false and defamatory and announced plans to pursue legal action against those responsible.

The White House responded through Steven Cheung, the president's assistant and communications director. Writing on X, Cheung called the book complete fiction and accused the author of being a failed spy thriller writer. He said the book offered only mysterious words from unnamed sources without any evidence or documentation.