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- Top Trump fundraisers who sought to negotiate $1 billion in business deals with Middle East princes referred to Jared Kushner as the "Clown Prince" and mocked his role as a Middle East negotiator.
- Elliot Broidy, a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, pitched to Trump that UAE and Saudi crown princes could involve themselves in Jared Kushner's Middle East peace plans.
- George Nader, Broidy's business partner, privately mocked Kushner's plans in leaked emails reviewed by the Associated Press, saying that "nobody would even waste cup of coffee" on Kushner if not for his marriage to Ivanka Trump.
Top Trump fundraisers who made $1 billion in business deals with Middle East princes referred to Jared Kushner as the "Clown Prince" and mocked his role as a Middle East negotiator.
Elliott Broidy, a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, and George Nader, Broidy's business partner, had proposed business dealings with crown princes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates totaling more than $1 billion, according to a report published Sunday by the Associated Press.
Broidy, who was named the Republican National Committee deputy finance chairman in April 2017, leveraged his influence to skew US foreign policy toward his Middle East business partners.
Leaked emails between Broidy and Nader reviewed by the Associated Press show Broidy met with Trump on December 2, 2017. In the briefing, Broidy relayed to Nader that he told the president that their royal business partners were "most favorably impressed" by Trump's leadership.
Broidy reportedly pitched to Trump the idea that the UAE and Saudi crown princes could involve themselves in Jared Kushner's Middle East peace efforts. However, emails revealed that the Saudi and Emirati princes had less-than-favorable views of Kushner and his mandate, which had been handed down by Trump, Kushner's father-in-law.
"You have to hear in private my Brother what Principals think of 'Clown prince's' efforts and his plan!" Nader wrote to Broidy, using code names for the crown royals and the pejorative for Kushner. "Nobody would even waste cup of coffee on him if it wasn't for who he is married to," Nader added referring to Kushner's wife, Ivanka Trump.
The Press said leaked emails revealed the two men received intelligence contracts good for up to $600 million to be paid over 5 years by the UAE in the days following Broidy's meeting with Trump. Several other deals, like the creation of an all-Muslim fighting force in the Middle East, were reportedly set to bring their Gulf business initiatives to $1 billion.
Previous reports indicate that while Kushner had a seemingly close relationship to the Saudi and Emirati crown princes, the royals secretly boasted about having Kushner under their control, behind closed doors.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman reportedly bragged to UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed about private meetings that he had with Kushner, saying that he had Kushner "in his pocket."
And US officials told The Washington Post in February that UAE officials had discussed ways to manipulate Kushner using his "complex business arrangements, financial difficulties, and lack of foreign-policy experience" as leverage.