President Donald Trump on Friday blasted a bombshell Vanity Fair article about his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s alleged dealings in the Middle East, calling it “a totally false story.”
The president made the remarks while speaking with reporters outside the White House.
“There’s a book out that says Jared Kushner had access to $2 billion from Middle Eastern countries,” a reporter said to the president.
“It’s a false story,” Trump shot back. “No, it’s a totally false story. It was totally an incorrect story. It was just fake news. Amazing.”
THE ALLEGATIONS
Vanity Fair published an excerpt from “Princes and Thieves,” an upcoming book by former Intercept reporter Matthew Cole.
The excerpt claims that Kushner’s phone was hacked, leading to the revelation of secret bank accounts and $700 million in foreign transactions.
In one passage, Cole alleges that “MBZ (UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan) and MBS (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman) initially, and then MBZ alone, put at least $2 billion into at least two bank accounts for Kushner.”
The article further alleges that roughly $1 billion of that money was intended for Kushner’s personal benefit.
KUSHNER PUSHES BACK
Kushner, who serves as Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, among other places, forcefully rejected the claims.
He called the allegations “outrageous and categorically false,” as well as “completely insane.”
The president’s dismissal of the report on Friday echoed his son-in-law’s denial, with Trump repeatedly labeling the story false and branding it “fake news.”
JERUSALEM POST PULLS ITS REPORT
The story also faced a setback Friday morning when The Jerusalem Post removed its own report on the allegations.
The outlet said it had found “significant factual questions” about the claims.
Kushner’s lawyer, Chad Mizelle, praised the Post’s decision to take down its report.
“We welcome independent scrutiny of the facts and encourage every publisher repeating these claims to demand the same documentation,” Mizelle wrote.
Mizelle’s statement called on other publishers repeating the claims to seek the same documentation before running with the story.
A WAR OF WORDS OVER THE BOOK
The excerpt from Cole’s book has put a spotlight on Kushner’s alleged financial ties to Middle Eastern leaders, with the claims centering on the UAE president and the Saudi crown prince.
According to the excerpt, both leaders initially contributed money to accounts for Kushner before the UAE president continued alone, with the total reaching at least $2 billion across at least two bank accounts.
But the response from Kushner’s camp and the White House has been swift and unequivocal. Kushner has called the allegations false and insane, the president has dismissed the report as fake news, and Kushner’s lawyer has welcomed one outlet’s decision to pull its coverage over factual concerns.
For now, the president’s message was clear as he spoke outside the White House on Friday: the story, in his words, was “totally false.”
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