Trump-pardoned real estate mogul Charles Kushner up for key diplomatic post
New Jersey real estate developer Charles Kushner will be considered by the U.S. Senate on Monday for the ambassadorship to France and Monaco.
Kushner, the father-in-law of Ivanka Trump, was previously pardoned by President Donald Trump for federal tax evasion and Federal Election Commission violations from 2005, during the mogul's first term.
In 1985, he founded the Kushner Companies and has long been a philanthropist, particularly to Jewish causes and institutions like Yeshiva University in Washington Heights, Manhattan.
He has also donated to St. Barnabas Hospital in Essex County, New Jersey, which has a wing bearing his family name.
During his May 1 confirmation hearing, Kushner acknowledged his past legal missteps, claiming they sharpened his judgment and better prepared him for both the ambassadorship and life.
"I think that my past mistakes actually make me… better in my values to really make me more qualified to do this job," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Kushner, who just celebrated his 71st birthday, was nominated in November after Trump called him a "tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our country & its interests."
"He was recognized as New Jersey Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, appointed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, & served as a commissioner, & chairman, of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, as well as on the boards of our top institutions, including NYU," Trump said.
"Congratulations to Charlie, his wonderful wife Seryl, their 4 children, & 14 grandchildren. His son, Jared, worked closely with me in the White House, in particular on Operation Warp Speed, Criminal Justice Reform, & the Abraham Accords."
Trump added that Kushner will help strengthen America's partnership with "our oldest ally and one of our greatest."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
20 minutes ago
- Fox News
Trump-backed Jack Ciattarelli captures GOP nomination for New Jersey governor
HOLMDEL, N.J. - The candidate President Donald Trump recently endorsed in New Jersey has won the state's Republican gubernatorial primary, in the 2025 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. The Associated Press projects that Jack Ciattarelli, a former GOP state lawmaker who is making his third bid for New Jersey governor, will capture the Republican nomination, topping four rivals in Tuesday's primary in a race that for months had been a battle for Trump's support. Among those Cittarelli defeated were former businessman and popular conservative talk radio host Bill Spadea and state Sen. Jon Bramnick, a lawyer who served for a decade as state Assembly GOP leader. Ciattarelli and Spadea spent months trading fire over which of them was a bigger Trump supporter. But last month the president endorsed Cittarelli, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in 2017, but four years later he captured the nomination and overperformed in the general election, coming close to ousting Murphy. "I'm asking you to get out and vote for a true champion for the people of your state – Jack Ciattarelli. He's been a friend of mine, and he's been a real success story," Trump told supporters a week ago, as he dialed into a tele-rally on the eve of the kick-off of early voting in New Jersey. Trump's grip over the GOP is stronger than ever following his convincing White House re-election victory last November, and Cittarrelli, in a Fox News Digtal interview last week, said the president's endorsement was "a really big deal" and added "the president's doing very, very well in New Jersey." Spadea said that not landing Trump's endorsement "was certainly disappointing." "I mean, we made no bones about this. We absolutely wanted the president's endorsement. Unfortunately, the president endorsed a poll and not a plan," Spadea told Fox News Digital last week. "I have been a supporter of President Trump since he came down the escalator," as he referenced Trump's announcement in 2015 of his first presidential campaign. "There is no question that I am the common-sense conservative. I am the actual Republican in this primary," Spadea claimed. And Spadea questioned Ciattarelli's support for Trump, arguing that his rival "has disrespected him [Trump] for the better part of the last eight years…We thought that that endorsement would have been better served with me." Four years ago, after he won the GOP gubernatorial nomination, Ciattarelli, when asked if he was seeking the then-former president's endorsement, told Fox News Digital "there's only one endorsement I seek, and that's the endorsement of the voters of New Jersey. That's the only one that matters." Fast-forward to 2025, and Ciattarelli emphasized that "people really appreciate what he [Trump] is doing for New Jerseyans. He's put a temporary hold on the wind farms off the Jersey Shore. He's beating up on the New York Democrats over congestion pricing. He supports a quadrupling of the SALT [state and local tax] deduction on our federal tax returns. Those are big deals to New Jersey, and that's why he's got so much great support here. And I'm honored to have his endorsement." Asked why Trump endorsed him rather than Spadea, Ciattarelli said that "the president wants to win. He knows that I provide the best opportunity to win in November." "He knows we're going to raise the necessary money. We've raised more money than the other five Republican gubernatorial candidates combined," added Ciattarelli, a certified public accountant who started a medical publishing company before getting into politics. Ciattarelli's fundraising allowed him to dominate the GOP primary ad wars. The Democratic Governors Association, pointing to the rush to embrace Trump by the top two candidates, long described the 2025 Republican showdown as a "MAGA battle" and argued that there's "extremism in the GOP primary." While New Jersey has long leaned toward the Democrats, Republicans have had success in gubernatorial elections. "It's not a blue state when it comes to governor races, Republicans have won six of the last 11. That's better than 50%," Ciattarelli said. Trump, who for years has spent summer weekends at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, held a very large campaign rally last year in Wildwood, N.J. And he improved from a 16-point loss in the state in the 2020 election to a 6-point deficit last November. Ciattarelli, looking ahead to the general election campaign, said he's "really looking forward" to Trump's "active participation…I think New Jerseyans are anxious to have him on the campaign trail with me and help deliver a win for us in November."
Washington Post
20 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Trump-endorsed Jack Ciattarelli wins Republican primary for New Jersey governor
Jack Ciattarelli easily won the Republican nomination for New Jersey governor on Tuesday with President Donald Trump's endorsement, setting up a November general election expected to be an early national bellwether for voters' views in the first year of Trump's second term. Ciattarelli was projected the winner shortly after the polls closed, the Associated Press reported. The winner of the crowded Democratic primary was not immediately clear Tuesday night, with six candidates splitting the vote in the most expensive election in New Jersey history. Trump played a central role in the Democrats' contest, too, as the candidates vowed to fight the White House and questioned each others' anti-Trump credentials.
New York Times
21 minutes ago
- New York Times
With Trump's Help, Jack Ciattarelli Wins G.O.P. Nomination for Governor
Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican endorsed last month by President Trump, easily won his party's nomination on Tuesday to run for governor of New Jersey in November. With about 20 percent of the estimated vote reported, Mr. Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman competing for governor for the third time, beat his two main opponents, State Senator Jon M. Bramnick and Bill Spadea, a conservative radio host, by a convincing margin, according to The Associated Press. Mr. Ciattarelli, 63, will now face the winner of a Democratic primary that remained too close to call early Tuesday evening. Mr. Ciattarelli had been considered the front-runner for months, leading in most polls and in the race for campaign cash. Mr. Trump's endorsement last month emphasized his goal of flipping New Jersey red after eight years of Democratic control. After two previous campaigns for governor, Mr. Ciattarelli is a familiar name to many voters. He came within three percentage points in 2021 of unseating Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat. He did not concede defeat until 10 days after the polls closed — at a news conference where he also announced that he would try again in 2025. Mr. Ciattarelli, a former accountant, has been running ever since. His embrace of Mr. Trump and his far-right positions represents a departure from his political career in Trenton, where he was known as a moderate during the seven years he served in the Assembly from the 16th Legislative District, in central New Jersey. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
