Trump handed the two most complex diplomatic crises of his term, ending the war in Ukraine and closing a nuclear deal with Iran, to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Kushner is his son-in-law. Witkoff is his real estate friend. Neither is a diplomat, and neither has ever been one.
Yale historian Timothy Snyder put it plainly: the entire U.S. diplomatic process has been reduced to two people, the president's son-in-law and the president's friend. That structural failure was built in from the start.
What Witkoff and Kushner Have Tried
Steve Witkoff has been Trump's point man on Iran and Gaza. He has held multiple rounds of talks with Iranian officials over a potential nuclear agreement. In parallel, he has been involved in hostage release negotiations. Foreign Policy reviewed his track record and concluded the deals were either stalled, reversed, or worse than what professional diplomats had previously negotiated.
Jared Kushner returned to the role he played in Trump's first term: back-channel fixer. Kushner's business ties to Gulf states, including a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia into his private equity firm, raise direct conflicts of interest that career diplomats flagged and that Kushner has never adequately explained.
Neither man has gone through Senate confirmation. Neither has a security clearance background review at the level required for these assignments. Neither reports to the Secretary of State through a chain of command.
"The president has replaced the entire U.S. diplomatic apparatus with his son-in-law and a real estate developer. That's not diplomacy. That's personal rule." — Timothy Snyder, Yale University
Why It Was Always Going to Fail
Professional diplomats told Time magazine the Iran approach is making things worse. Witkoff's lack of technical knowledge about nuclear thresholds, enrichment timelines, and inspection regimes leaves him unable to evaluate Iranian counterproposals. Iranian negotiators, according to the same report, have learned to wait him out.
On Ukraine, Kushner's involvement has been shadowed by his financial relationships with Gulf investors who have their own interest in a quick settlement that locks in Russian territorial gains. The Ukrainian government has repeatedly raised concerns about the terms being floated. The concerns were ignored.
The result is what foreign policy analysts at Responsible Statecraft described as "not so diplomatic": an administration that is simultaneously escalating toward war with Iran while claiming to negotiate, and offering Ukraine terms that reward Russian aggression while claiming to seek peace.
Sources
- Timothy Snyder on why U.S. diplomacy cannot work — PBS NewsHour
- Trump Troubleshooters Witkoff and Kushner Get an F in Diplomacy — Foreign Policy
- "It's Not Working": Diplomats Fear Trump's Iran Envoys Are Making Things Worse — Time
- Crony Diplomacy Is Failing U.S. Foreign Policy — USRESIST News
- Not So Diplomatic: Witkoff, Kushner, and Trump's March to War in Iran — Responsible Statecraft
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