SUMMARY: The Trump family’s relationships with Saudi Arabia and its ruler Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) involve billions of dollars of investments and real estate deals. These conflicts of interest and apparent corruption by a president and his family are unprecedented in American history. The acquiescence and enabling behavior by Republicans in Congress, other officials in the Trump administration, and by the Supreme Court make them accessories. If there were a functioning, independent Department of Justice or Congress, there would be more investigations and prosecutions than one could count.
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The third facet of the Trump family’s friendly relationships with Saudi Arabia and its ruler Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is the one that financially benefits Trump himself, his family, and the Trump organization. Therefore, it presents huge conflicts of interest that may well be the core explanation for Trump’s friendly relationship that has benefited Saudi Arabia and MBS with deals for nuclear, AI, and military infrastructure and capabilities. As noted in my previous posts (here and here), these deals by the Trump administration represent significant changes in U.S. policies and, in many experts’ views, present serious national security risks.
In President Trump’s first term, he appointed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a senior advisor and Director of the Office of American Innovation. Kushner was involved in various policy initiatives, including peace negotiations with Israel and Arab nations, despite a total lack of public policy, international relations, and diplomacy experience. This role presented conflicts of interest due to his past and current business dealings with Arab leaders and investors. In 2018, it was reported that multiple foreign governments had discussed manipulating Kushner and the Trump administration through Kushner’s financial dealings. MBS bragged to other Arab leaders that he had Kushner in his pocket. [1]
Just as the first Trump presidential term was winding down late in 2020, Kushner founded an investment management firm, Affinity Partners. Kushner had no investment management experience and his sales pitch was described as very amateurish as he worked to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for his firm to manage. A key target was the nearly $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. Kushner, in overseeing the Trump administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East, along with his father-in-law, President Trump, had cultivated a relationship with the Saudis and in particular with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
The Saudi officials screening investment opportunities recommended not investing with Affinity Partners because of its lack of investment management experience and lack of a clear strategy, among other factors. However, MBS overruled them and invested $2 billion with Kushner’s firm. United Arab Emirates and Qatar invested about $1.5 billion. Along with other mostly foreign investors, Affinity Partners raised over $6 billion. This generated over $100 million in fees for Kushner and his partners based on a fee structure the Saudi analysts had called excessive. [2]
In Trump’s second term starting in 2025, Kushner was again involved in Mideast negotiations as well as negotiations with Russia on Ukraine. (Trump’s and Kushner’s Russian connections are, of course, a whole other story.) In 2025, Kushner privately brokered the $55 billion Saudi purchase of the huge video game company Electronic Arts. (MBS reportedly loves video games and has played them with Kushner.) In 2026, even as the U.S. war on Iran was on-going and Kushner was serving as a negotiator, he was meeting with the Saudis to secure additional billions of dollars for his Affinity Partners investment firm. [3]
In February 2025, the Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, known as its Public Investment Fund (PIF), sponsored its third annual investment conference in Miami. President Trump was again the headline speaker. Kushner and Donald Trump, Jr., were also present to schmooze with Saudi officials and businessmen. PIF has made billions of dollars of investments in the U.S., including in Kushner’s Affinity Partners, Trump’s golf resorts, and with other former Trump administration officials, such as former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. [4] One commentator noted that you don’t need an army to have power and influence in the world, you just need to have a sovereign wealth fund with a trillion dollars as the Saudis do. By the way, the proposed purchase of CNN and Warner Brothers Discovery by Paramount (which is owned and run by Trump’s friends the Ellisons) is funded by the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar. If the deal goes through, those three countries’ funds would own 49.5% of the new company with the possibility that their share might grow to controlling majority interest. [5]
In January 2026, less than two months after hosting MBS at the White House, Trump announced $7 billion in private real estate development projects by the Trump organization in Saudi Arabia. Previously, in late 2024, shortly after Trump’s election as president, his son, Eric, who is leading the Trump organization, had announced a separate $3 billion real estate project in Saudi Arabia. The Trump organization also has real estate projects in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). [6]
President Trump’s son Donald, Jr., also has an investment firm. It’s called 1789 Capital and has extensive investments in defense companies. Don Jr. was intimately involved with vetting candidates for Pentagon jobs in 2025. Shortly thereafter, at least four companies 1789 Capital was invested in got Pentagon contracts. Trump sons, Don Jr. and Eric, are also the officers of a shell company that has invested in mining interests, including one that has a $1.6 billion U.S. government contract to obtain tungsten from Kazakhstan. [7]
The billions of dollars in business deals described above present conflicts of interest for and apparent corruption by the President and his family that are unprecedented in American history. These examples are just an overview. There’s much more, such as the Trump family’s crypto businesses.
This post and my previous two posts (here and here) highlight some dramatic government and private actions by Trump, his family members, and his administration that present mind-boggling conflicts of interest. One commentator stated that Jared Kushner is effectively on Saudi Arabia’s payroll. Although President Trump and his family are the primary culprits, the acquiescence and enabling behavior of Republicans in Congress and other officials in the Trump administration, as well as of the Supreme Court, make them accessories. If there were a functioning, independent Department of Justice or Congress, there would be more investigations and prosecutions than one could count.
For lots of good news see Jess Craven’s Chop Wood Carry Water blog’s most recent good news Sunday posts here.
[1] Michel, C., July-August 2026, “They went to Jared,” Mother Jones (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/06/jared-kushner-affinity-partners-fund-saudi-arabia-qatar-uae-israel-middle-east-deals-nepotism-iran-war-gaza-peace-deal-diplomat-steve-witkoff-donald-ivanka-trump/)
[2] Michel, C., July-August 2026, see above
[3] Michel, C., July-August 2026, see above
[4] Human Rights Watch, 2/19/25, “Saudi Arabia: Public Investment Fund meeting whitewashes abuses,” (https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/02/19/saudi-arabia-public-investment-fund-meeting-whitewashes-abuses)
[5] Meyerson, H., 7/21/26, “When the anti-Sharia law demagogues fall silent,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/2026/07/21/anti-sharia-law-republicans-paramount-warner-bros-chip-roy-keith-self-tommy-tuberville/)
[6] Kile, M., 1/13/26, “Trumps announce $7B in new Saudi Arabia projects – including mansions ‘where winners reside’ – after Crown Prince’s White House visit,” People (https://people.com/trump-international-announces-saudi-arabia-projects-weeks-after-crown-prince-white-house-visit-11884610)
[7] Makdisi, N., 7/26/26, “The business of war: Trump’s critical minerals grift,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-minerals-grift)
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