Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump, revealed new secrets during his tenure as White House adviser, revealing two incidents, the first of which was when the presidential guard stopped Prince Mohammed bin Salman. from entering the White House and the second about the sale of American F-35 aircraft.
CNN reported the details of these two incidents, including other stories that Kushner tells in his memoirs titled “Breaking History”, the last of which was his talk about the Persian Gulf crisis between Qatar on the one hand and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain on the other. Egypt on the other hand.
Kushner revealed an incident that occurred in early 2017 when Mohammed bin Salman, then the former deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Nayef, was in the United States and how the presidential guard prevented him from entering the White House. gave According to CNN, the house is due to a “paperwork issue.”
In January 2017, in Trump’s first phone call with King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi ruler told us to coordinate a possible trip with his charismatic 31-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman, the charismatic deputy crown prince and minister of defense. Kushner, better known as MBS, says.
Kushner notes that he was tasked with coordinating on the American side, where Trump chose him and deemed him “the right person,” adding, “When I got back to my office, I actually got an email from Mohammed bin Salman. who had asked Mohammed bin Salman to do a letter. calling.”
And he continued: “In March, when Mohammed bin Salman was in Washington to negotiate the details of Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, a snowstorm hit the northeast of the country. He canceled his visit at the last minute because his plane could not He was able to take off from Germany.”
Meanwhile, Kushner says he asked Trump if he would have lunch with Mohammed bin Salman because the deputy crown prince was in town at the time, adding, “Trump thought it was a great idea, despite the White House NSC staff.” Is. insisting that presidents eat lunch with foreign officials who are not heads of state.”
However, Trump rejected this bureaucratic protocol and decided to explore a potential partnership that could advance American interests in the Middle East.
But Trump’s refusal to do so did not satisfy Mohammed bin Salman, according to National Security Council staff, “they did not allow him to bypass the security checkpoint and go straight to the West Wing of the White House, as heads of state are allowed to do.” give.”
Kushner adds: “So my deputy and my only staffer at the time, Avi Berkowitz, waited in the snow outside the security checkpoint to meet with MBS. When the deputy crown prince arrived, there was a problem with the papers and the presidential guard stood in the way. I ran to the gate and convinced them to let him in.
He added: “Despite the difficult start of the meeting, the lunch was a success. Trump directly told Mohammed bin Salman that he wants stronger cooperation in the fight against terrorism, the fight against extremism and ending the financing of terrorism.”
According to Kushner’s memoirs, Trump “expected Saudi Arabia to shoulder most of the defense burden in the region. America will not continue to spend precious blood and trillions of dollars on endless foreign wars.” “It was a tough message, but Trump wasn’t shy,” Kushner notes.
In response, MBS “revealed an ambitious and comprehensive plan to fight terrorism. This interim meeting reinforced my sense that we should take a risk and go to Saudi Arabia on the president’s first foreign trip…Trump gave me the green light.” It gave way to continue. Planning.”
On the other hand, in the same notes, a problem emerged during the negotiations over the sale of US F-35 fighter jets to Abu Dhabi, as Republican Senators Rand Paul, Democratic Senators Bob Menendez and Chris Murphy introduced legislation to block the arms sale. CNN.
“Paul had a history of opposing US foreign military sales, but Mendes and Murphy had a different reason,” Kushner said. They alleged that we had committed misconduct that we did not informally clear before announcing the agreement with the Foreign Relations Committee. ”
He continued: “While the president would veto any congressional resolution blocking the sale — and the Senate lacked the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto — the public display of opposition embarrassed the Emiratis and raised concerns about their relationship with Democratic leaders before Biden’s inauguration”.
In his memoirs, Kushner describes it as “an unwanted development that could jeopardize the normalization agreements between Israel and the Arab countries at the beginning of the journey” and added: “Avi and I met with Pompeo, Youssef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador, and Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador for We worked in contact with each other. Each member of the Council of Ministers. Almost the sheikhs explained the importance of military sales and answered their questions.
According to Kushner, Israeli Ambassador Dermer told reporters that “Israel is very comfortable with the sale and described the United Arab Emirates as an ally against Iran.”
Kushner adds: “In the end, most senators decided that this deal would tip the regional balance of power against Iran without jeopardizing Israel’s security. They also understood that if we didn’t get a deal, the United Arab Emirates would probably be forced from China or Russia will buy weapons.” .
He added: “It was clearly in our interest to bring the Emiratis closer to America.”
He noted that “after extensive intervention, the Senate rejected the bill. With the exception of Paul, all Republicans voted with us. After the vote, Youssef thanked us by phone.”
He noted that “Ambassador Dermer was very talented and it was a very different experience working with him when he was an ally.”
Source: Lebanon Debate
