Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner’s Massive Debt to Oligarchy Riches

Trump, Kushner, and Netanyahu’s war with Iran began with a shadowy alliance that formed in late 2016, following the US election that turned the world upside down. It was driven by two mysterious bank accounts managed in part by Jared Kushner, with a combined $2 billion–a Middle Eastern autocratic slush fund that essentially served as a bribe to the Trump family to get America–the most powerful military in the world–to unleash war on Iran–an enemy of Netanyahu, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) of the UAE, and murderous millennial Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia. Those are just some of the explosive revelations in investigative journalist Matthew Cole’s new must-read book Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East.

With Trump furious at his ex-lawyer Alina Baba essentially selling a pardon for $50 million, and not cutting him in on the deal–a sin in Trump world where you’ve got to pay to play–Trump must have known about Kushner’s $2 billion secret bank accounts from Middle Eastern autocratic leaders who treated Kushner like their unregistered foreign agent in Trump’s White House.

In Part I of our discussion with Matthew Cole, we discuss:

• Jared Kushner was in massive debt over his family’s vanity purchase of 666 5th Avenue, and therefore a major national security risk, when he managed his father-in-law’s campaign for president in 2016 and entered the White House.

• In fact, several core members of the Trump campaign were deeply in debt or on shaky ground financially when they decided to unite forces and win the White House in 2016 with the Kremlin’s very illegal help. In power, they all got insanely rich through corruption and lawlessness thanks to financial deals with the most powerful and imperialist autocrats running the Middle East: the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

• How the sex crimes in Jared Kushner’s family mirror those of the families that run the UAE and Saudi Arabia, autocratic regimes Kushner would join forces with.

• Why George Nader, a notorious pedophile, was key to the operation of connecting the UAE and Saudi Arabia with Kushner and Trump.

Princes and Thieves unearths the crimes carried out in the shadows during Trump’s first term, giving us greater insight in the crimes and corruption carried out in the open today during Trump’s second. This discussion, along with Part II running next week, also provides important insights into how to hold Kushner accountable, and how to prevent another Trump regime. This is a book and a conversation you’re not going to want to miss.

Gaslit Nation’s episode on the midterms is running later this week.

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Show Notes:

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Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East, by Matthew Cole https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Princes-and-Thieves/Matthew-Cole/9781668095324

What you need to know about 666 Fifth Avenue https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-666-fifth-avenue/

“Princes and Thieves” Author Matthew Cole on Jared Kushner & the “Secret Plot to Remake Middle East” https://www.democracynow.org/2026/11/2/matthew_cole_jared_kushner_book

Jared Kushner Threatens Legal Action Over Vanity Fair Story Alleging Secret Bank Accounts https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/jared-kushner-vanity-fair-book-legal-threat/

Jared Kushner’s Phone Was Hacked. It Exposed an Alleged $2 Billion Foreign Money Web https://dailycaller.com/2026/10/23/jared-kushner-phone-hacked-foreign-money-web-united-arab-emirates-saudi-matthew-cole/

How Kushner Conducted Foreign Policy for Profit https://business-standard.com/book/how-kushner-conducted-foreign-policy-for-profit-126110100856_1.html

Raskin Urges Kushner to Recuse Himself From Negotiations Amid Book’s Allegations https://truthout.org/video/raskin-urges-kushner-to-recuse-himself-from-negotiations-amid-books-allegations/

Susan Rice Told House Investigators Why She Unmasked Trump Officials https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/politics/susan-rice-house-investigators-unmasked-trump-officials

Kushners Unload 666 Fifth Ave. to Brookfield in 99-Year Lease https://fortune.com/2018/08/04/kushners-666-fifth-avenue-lease

House Democrats Investigate Mysterious Qatar-Linked Cash Infusion That Bailed Out Kushner Building https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/house-democrats-investigate-mysterious-qatar-linked-cash-infusion-bailed

Mueller Probe Witness Gets 10-Year Sentence on Child Porn, Abuse Charges https://news.yahoo.com/mueller-probe-witness-gets-10-180948775.html

Mueller Witness Pleads Guilty in Illegal Scheme to Funnel UAE Money to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Campaign https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/?p=1532055

Lukoil’s Foreign Asset Sale Becomes Part of U.S.–Russia Talks on Ending Ukraine War, NYT Reports https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/10/05/lukoil-s-foreign-asset-sale-becomes-part-of-u-s-russia-talks-on-ending-ukraine-war-nyt-reports

U.S. Peace Negotiations With Russia Could Now Involve Multi-Billion Dollar Lukoil Deal, NYT Reports https://kyivindependent.com/u-s-peace-negotiations-with-russia-could-now-involve-multi-billion-dollar-lukoil-deal-nyt-reports/

US and Israel Strike Iran https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20260228/us-and-israel-strike-iran

Jared Kushner Threatens Legal Action Over Vanity Fair Story Alleging Secret Bank Accounts https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/jared-kushner-vanity-fair-book-legal-threat/

A Billionaire Wanted a Trump Pardon. His Family Gave Alina Habba a $50 Million Deal. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/us/politics/julio-herrera-pardon-alina-habba.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Raskin targets Kushner over alleged foreign money ties The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is already staking out jurisdiction over Jared Kushner investigations if Democrats take back the House. https://www.ms.now/news/raskin-kushner-alleged-foreign-money-ties