Mohammed bin Salman said he sees no problem with a Saudi Arabian wealth fund investing $2 billion in Jared Kushner’s private equity, despite his family ties to former President Donald Trump.
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, the 38-year-old controversial crown prince admitted “mistakes” in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and warned his country would get nuclear weapons if Iran did so.
Six months after Trump left the White House in 2020, his son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner secured a $2 billion investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), led by MbS.
When asked by Fox host Bret Baier whether this created a conflict of interest – and whether the royal family would withdraw the money if Donald Trump were re-elected – MbS replied: “If it’s legal, what’s the problem?”
“We are looking for investment opportunities,” he said. “We have a lot of investment around the world with a lot of people with economic opportunities.”
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, the controversial crown prince also admitted “mistakes” in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and warned that his country would obtain nuclear weapons if Iran did so
Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman said he sees no problems with his wealth fund investing $2 billion in Jared Kushner’s fledgling private equity firm despite ties to former President Donald Trump. (Pictured: MbS with Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump in 2017)
Six months after Trump left the White House in 2020, his son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner secured a $2 billion investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), led by MbS. (Pictured: MbS with Trump and Kushner in 2017)
Asked whether the $2 billion would remain with Kushner even if Trump became president again, MbS answered yes.
“This is a commitment from PIF and when PIF has a commitment to an investor around the world, we honor it,” he said.
Asked if he was aware that this could lead to a conflict of interest, he said: “Saudi Arabia is so big, so I’m pretty sure almost every person in the world has something to do with Saudi Arabia, directly or indirectly has to do.”
“So if that can influence President Trump’s decision about whether he becomes president, that means it can influence the decision of every president in the world and every person in the world.”
“Because they have a direct and indirect interest in something that has to do with Saudi Arabia.”
Kushner secured the massive deal from the PIF despite his company being lambasted by a panel of economists reviewing the wealth fund’s investments for its “inexperience” and “public relations risks.”
During his time in the White House, Kushner was known for his close personal relationship with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman and for helping him secure a $110 billion arms deal.
He was among the Saudi royal family’s staunchest defenders within the government amid international outrage over the killing of U.S.-based journalist and MbS critic Jamal Khashoggi.
Asked about Khashoggi’s killing, MbS said he was reforming the kingdom’s security system to ensure a “mistake” of this kind does not happen again.
“We are taking all the legal measures that every country has taken… That’s what we did in Saudi Arabia and the case has been closed,” MbS said.
Asked whether the $2 billion would remain with Kushner even if Trump becomes president again, MbS answered yes
Asked about the killing of Khashoggi (pictured), MbS said he was reforming the kingdom’s security system to ensure such a “mistake” does not happen again
“We are also trying to reform the security system to ensure that such mistakes do not happen again, and we can see that nothing like this has happened in the last five years.” “That is not part of what Saudi Arabia is doing .”
The Biden administration released a declassified U.S. intelligence report concluding that MbS “approved” of the operation that killed Khashoggi but took no action against the crown prince himself.
MbS was also asked about the possibility that Iran could eventually build a nuclear weapon, and he confirmed that Saudi Arabia would try to do the same if Iran began building an arsenal.
“We are concerned if any country gets a nuclear weapon: that is a bad move,” he said. “You don’t need nuclear weapons because you can’t use them.”
Asked how he would react if Iran secured a nuclear bomb, he said: “If they get one, we have to get one.”
MbS also spoke about relations with Israel, claiming that his country is getting closer to normalizing relations with the country.
“Every day we get closer,” he said, referring to Israel – a hot topic in Washington as Biden’s administration presses forward with efforts to broker historic ties between the two regional powerhouses.
“We are looking for investment opportunities,” MbS said when asked about his mega donation to Kushner’s company. “We have a lot of investments around the world with a lot of people with economic opportunity.” (Pictured: Kushner with Saudi officials in the Oval Office in 2018)
MbS was also asked about the possibility that Iran could eventually build a nuclear weapon, and he confirmed that Saudi Arabia would try to do the same if Iran began building an arsenal. (Pictured: an alleged Iranian military bunker)
The normalization talks are at the heart of complex negotiations that also include discussions about U.S. security guarantees and civilian nuclear assistance that Riyadh has sought, as well as possible Israeli concessions to the Palestinians.
“The Palestinian issue is very important to us. “We have to solve this part,” said MbS, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, when asked what it would take to reach a normalization agreement. “And we have a good negotiating strategy so far.”
“We have to see where we go.” “We hope that we will reach a point that will make life easier for Palestinians and make Israel a player in the Middle East,” he said.
Baier also questioned MbS about Saudi Arabia’s ties to 9/11, as 15 of the 19 hijackers behind the plot were Saudi citizens.
MbS defended his government against accusations that it had facilitated or supported the attacks. Osama bin Laden also carried out attacks against Saudi Arabia in the 1990s and described him as a common enemy.
“He is our enemy and he is the American enemy,” emphasized MbS.