Salon reporter Sophia Tesfaye says “the speed and scale of Jared Kushner’s re-emergence can’t be overstated,” and neither can his corruption.
“In the first year of Donald Trump’s second presidency, his son-in-law is casually consolidating economic and political power with staggering speed,” said Tesfaye. “Kushner has positioned himself at the center of the biggest media merger in years and at the fulcrum of White House foreign policy, all while taking in multi-billion-dollar investments from autocratic governments.”
Tesfaye said Paramount Skydance recently launched a bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery through a hostile takeover. Paramount’s offer draws heavily from Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, and from the sovereign wealth funds of Middle Eastern autocracies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Which would give them — and Kushner — influence over some of America’s most powerful news and cultural engines
“The partnership is unprecedented,” said Tesfaye. “Not even Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing media empire was capitalized by foreign monarchies seeking political leverage.
[I omit details of U.S. media being taken over by Trump family and Arab countries in deference to copyright.]
But Kushner’s influence is not limited to the media, said Tesfaye. Weeks ago, he proved a central actor behind Trump’s new Gaza initiative, and he’s quietly inserted himself into Trump’s Ukraine diplomacy, Tesfaye said.
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“Kushner’s sudden, sweeping reappearance is not a coincidence or a comeback,” said Tesfaye. “It is a consolidation. He’s back to lead a hostile takeover of our information ecosystem.”
