Ben Rhodes, who formerly served as Deputy National Security Advisor under President Obama, appeared on MSNBC’s Alex Wagner show to discuss the new New York Times revelation on the substantial financial contributions made by Gulf Arab states to Jared Kushner for his management.
“How does Kushner’s entanglement with someone like MBS compromise, potentially, I don’t know, the foreign policy platform of his father-in-law, who’s running to be the next president of the United States?” Wagner asked the former Obama advisor.
“Well, in a word, entirely, Alex. I mean, look, this is not subtle corruption that we’re looking at. This is a guy, Jared Kushner, who had no expertise, no qualification whatsoever to be in the White House while he was there. He made it his account to work in the Gulf Arab states. He basically helped lead the cover-up for MBS. Get him in from the cold after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” Rhodes said.
“And look, the Saudis didn’t make a $2 billion investment because they trusted in Jared Kushner’s investment expertise. Today, does anybody in the world believe that $2 billion is based on an assessment that Jared Kushner is who you want to give your money to, to make a return?” he continued.
“No, they’re making an investment. What they think he can do for them if there is a second Trump term. And basically what we can take from that investment is that in a second Trump term, US foreign policy in the Middle East and around the world will be made entirely with the interests of Mohammed bin Salman in mind.” he added.
“Do you think that complicates this in a way that neutralizes the issue? Or, I mean, how do you see that the fact that he is equally invested with or they are equally invested within the Qataris and the Israelis?” Wagner asked later in the conversation.
“No, it just means it’s all for sale, Alex,” Rhodes said.
“That’s all it means. It’s an auction, essentially. Right? And this is how other countries work, right? More corrupt, smaller countries, literally, where the president’s son in law is down the hall. That’s not a new phenomenon in the US. Essentially what you have is whoever is the highest bidder gets whatever they want, except in this case, it’s the global superpower, the United States of America.” Rhodes insisted.
“And so I think what you can take from what Saudi Arabia and Qatar and other countries are doing is that they believe, based on their own experience of the first Trump term and their expectations for the second, that American foreign policy is essentially for sale. Whoever comes in with the highest price, gets what they want.” he concluded.
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