Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, stands at the center of allegations that one commentator argues amount to the worst case of U.S. foreign policy conducted outside the law since the Iran-contra scandal of the Reagan era.

In a Monday review in The New York Times of "Princes and Thieves," a recent book by investigative journalist Matthew Cole, Fintan O'Toole wrote that "if Cole's claims are accurate, Kushner's political and financial relationship with the U.A.E.'s president, Mohammed bin Zayed (widely known as M.B.Z.), constitutes what must surely be the worst case of U.S. foreign policy being conducted outside the law and democratic oversight since the Iran-contra scandal during the Reagan administration in the 1980s." Bin Zayed has led the United Arab Emirates since 2022, presiding over a federation of seven emirates that has been a U.S. security partner in the Gulf for decades.

O'Toole placed the allegations in historical context. "In that affair, government officials secretly sold arms to Iran and used the proceeds to fund — against the explicit orders of Congress — a violent right-wing insurgency in Nicaragua," he wrote. "What Cole alleges is, if anything, more consequential: that Kushner worked with the U.A.E. to shape U.S. policy across the Middle East and that, in the course of this work, he was given access to bank accounts containing roughly $2 billion." The Iran-contra affair came to light in 1986, prompting congressional investigations and criminal prosecutions of several Reagan administration officials, and it remains a recurring reference point in debates over the limits of executive foreign policy.

He stressed, however, that none of Cole's allegations have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. "Cole's most significant sources remain anonymous," O'Toole wrote. "Recurring attributions in his notes include 'a confidential source with direct knowledge' and 'author interview with source who attended the meeting.'" He also noted that Kushner declined to be interviewed for the book, and that Kushner's lawyer described Cole's allegations as "crazy, false and defamatory," threatening legal action last week against Vanity Fair, which published an excerpt from the book. Whether that threatened action proceeds, and what further documentation of the book's claims emerges, remains to be seen.

"To Cole's credit," O'Toole added, "he recognizes that, even after five years of digging, 'much remains unknown about Kushner's relationships and agreements with the leaders of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and, especially, the United Arab Emirates.' What we have, then, is an incomplete and contested account of those dealings."

Kushner has also been faulted for his unorthodox style of communicating as a diplomat, which some experts argue shows little appreciation for the craft of sensitive international negotiations. Kushner arrived in government without a diplomatic background, having run his family's real estate business and owned the New York Observer before serving as a senior adviser throughout Trump's first term, where his portfolio included Middle East policy.

"In the waning hours before the U.S. went to war with Iran, this February, Jared Kushner held a meeting with Iranian negotiators in Geneva — one last chance to avoid a conflict that would plunge the region into chaos and shock the world economy," reporter Derek Filkins reported in September. Afterward, Kushner dismissed his counterparts as unworthy of his time. "Lots of tricks," he told reporters. "They're basically playing games with us all over the place, and it's very, very slippery."

"Kushner, the boyish-looking son-in-law of Donald Trump, has been given an extraordinary brief in recent years," Filkins added. "Along with Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoy, he has been charged with ending wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and just about anywhere else they might break out. Kushner, who is 45, has little regard for the craft of diplomacy."