Qatar Denied Loan to The Kushner's and Pays For It by Having Saudis Come Against Them
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| Image by Lia Kantrowitz, appeared on Vice 2017 |
Earlier this week it was learned that Jared Kushner’s family business received half a billion dollars in loans from a pair of financial institutions following meetings between senior executives and the First Son-in-Law in the White House. The optics weren’t great! An even worse look? The possibility that the boy prince launched a geopolitical tantrum and punished an entire country for refusing to lend money to Kushner Cos.
The Intercept reports that in April 2017, Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, met with Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi in hopes of securing an investment in 666 Fifth Avenue, the Midtown tower that has become a real-estate albatross around the family’s neck. The 30-minute meeting was held at a suite at the St. Regis in New York and was followed up by another rendezvous at the cursed property itself, though Al Emadi was not in attendance at the latter. Ultimately, like the numerous other parties from whom the Kushners attempted to extract money for the building, the Qataris decided to pass. And then, totally coincidentally, this happened:
The failure to broker the deal would be followed only a month later by a Middle Eastern diplomatic row in which Jared Kushner provided critical support to Qatar’s neighbors. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a group of Middle Eastern countries, with Kushner’s backing, led a diplomatic assault that culminated in a blockade of Qatar. Kushner, according to reports at the time, subsequently undermined efforts by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to bring an end to the standoff.
As the Intercept notes, this was not the first time Jared’s dad solicited money from the Qataris; in another instance, shortly after the 2016 election, Charles Kushner tried to get Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al Thani, a rich and powerful businessman and former foreign minister and prime minister of Qatar, to invest in 666.
That deal, worth $500 million, ultimately fell through when the Kushner failed to drum up outside the capital, which was one of the businessman’s stipulations. Of course, there’s know the way to know whether the Trump administration’s decision to rain hell on Qatar was the result of Jared not getting his way. Certainly, neither the Kushners nor the Trumps are known for holding grudges, or for retaliating against people they believe have wronged them. But the timing is interesting—in fact, if one were in the business of making such salacious claims, one could almost say that a pattern is emerging!
The failure to broker the deal would be followed only a month later by a Middle Eastern diplomatic row in which Jared Kushner provided critical support to Qatar’s neighbors. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a group of Middle Eastern countries, with Kushner’s backing, led a diplomatic assault that culminated in a blockade of Qatar. Kushner, according to reports at the time, subsequently undermined efforts by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to bring an end to the standoff.
As the Intercept notes, this was not the first time Jared’s dad solicited money from the Qataris; in another instance, shortly after the 2016 election, Charles Kushner tried to get Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al Thani, a rich and powerful businessman and former foreign minister and prime minister of Qatar, to invest in 666. That deal, worth $500 million, ultimately fell through when the Kushner failed to drum up outside the capital, which was one of the businessman’s stipulations. Of course, there’s know the way to know whether the Trump administration’s decision to rain hell on Qatar was the result of Jared not getting his way. Certainly, neither the Kushners nor the Trumps are known for holding grudges, or for retaliating against people they believe have wronged them. But the timing is interesting—in fact, if one were in the business of making such salacious claims, one could almost say that a pattern is emerging!
Mohammed Hitme, chief of staff to the Qatari finance minister, did not respond to the Intercept’s requests for comment while Hope Hicks, White House spokesperson for the next few weeks, referred questions to Kushner Cos. The company’s spokesperson, Christine Taylor, told the Intercept: “We don’t comment on who Charlie meets with,” adding, “We don’t do business with any sovereign funds.” She was not asked whether the company would if given the opportunity.
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