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Senior Trump advisor Jared Kushner accused CNN of publishing a “deeply misleading story and headline” suggesting his “diplomatic work in the Middle East somehow benefited investments in Israeli defense companies” in a fiery social media post on Friday.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who rarely criticizes the media publicly, took to X to scold a paywall-protected CNN report headlined, “How Jared Kushner’s firm’s investment in an Israeli company could be a major conflict of interest,” that was published on Thursday.
The report noted that Kushner acted as a key negotiator regarding the war in Gaza while his company, Affinity Partners, “held the largest stake in an Israeli firm backing businesses involved in Israel’s military campaigns.”
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Kushner argued that CNN’s own reporting contradicts the headline, but said readers without a paid subscription to the website were left in the dark.
“Buried behind a paywall, it acknowledges: ‘CNN found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed,’” Kushner wrote.
Indeed, CNN said it found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly impacted the investments, but that point was buried 10 paragraphs deep and only visible to paid CNN subscribers.
The lengthy report said, “CNN used Israeli financial transparency laws to trace some of the military-linked investments of Phoenix Financial, a Tel Aviv-based firm that Kushner’s investment group doubled its stake in last year, shortly before Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office.”
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“Those records, which include only a fraction of Phoenix’s holdings, show Phoenix has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems. Phoenix also holds stakes in at least eight other companies providing equipment for the Israeli military ranging from drones to warships to demolition machinery, CNN found,” according to the report.
“All nine companies identified by CNN saw their stock value climb last year, with many stating the war in Gaza had driven demand for their businesses,” the CNN report continued. “Affinity doesn’t directly hold a stake in the nine companies CNN identified — but it does stand to reap rewards when Phoenix makes a profit.”
CNN also noted that Kushner described Phoenix as a strong investment for Affinity.
In his response, Kushner said that Phoenix is not a defense company, despite CNN’s framing, and defended his company’s investments.
“It is one of Israel’s largest publicly traded financial institutions, highly regulated and managing approximately $220 billion across thousands of investments,” Kushner wrote.
“Think of Phoenix as the Israeli equivalent of Vanguard or Fidelity. It manages the retirement savings of millions of Israelis. The savers don’t choose the individual investments, and neither do I,” Kushner continued. “I have no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells. It has performed very well for Affinity and our investors, up more than five times since our initial investment.”
Kushner added that Affinity is an SEC-registered investment firm.
“Our investment in Phoenix is public and dates to before President Trump was re-elected, and before I returned to public service. Affinity does not own the defense companies highlighted in CNN’s story,” Kushner wrote.
“Those facts make for a less provocative headline, but a much more accurate story,” he continued. “Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together and pursue peace. That work is too important.”
A CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “we stand by our reporting.”
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In a separate post, Kushner said he has ignored “false and misleading stories” for the past decade, but “the cycle has gotten out of control where old lies get repeated as fact, new ones get added, and the record becomes increasingly distorted,” so he felt a need to respond.
CNN published a statement from Kushner’s attorney, which was also hidden behind the paywall.
“Any suggestion that Jared’s diplomatic work influenced Phoenix’s investments in the companies you identify, or vice versa, is incorrect,” the attorney told CNN.
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A White House spokesperson also told CNN the suggestion Kushner’s personal business activities have anything to do with his diplomatic engagements is a “tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family, and his administration for a decade.”
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