Popular Information

04/20/2026

Accepting payments from a foreign government while leading diplomacy for the U.S. would be a glaring conflict of interest under any circumstances. But in this case, Kushner was on the Saudi payroll as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the de facto ruler of the country, reportedly lobbied Trump both to initiate and continue the war.

Popular Information analyzed coverage of Kushner’s diplomatic role from the outset of the war with Iran on February 28 to April 19. During that period, 202 articles mentioning Kushner’s role representing the U.S. in negotiations with Iran were collectively published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, CNN Wire, The New York Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and The Los Angeles Times.

Only six of the 202 articles covering Kushner’s diplomatic role mentioned his financial conflict of interest with the Saudi government. That means more than 97% of the coverage ignored Kushner’s conflict. Of the six articles that covered the conflict, five appeared in the New York Times. The other article originally appeared in Foreign Policy and was republished by the Washington Post.

The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, CNN Wire, The New York Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and The Los Angeles Times collectively published dozens of articles about Kushner’s diplomatic role in the war with Iran but never mentioned the conflict.

Among the publications analyzed, The New York Times has had the most substantive coverage of Kushner’s conflict. Still, the vast majority of the New York Times coverage of Kushner’s diplomatic role does not even briefly mention his financial conflict.

Notably, some publications that have completely ignored Kushner’s conflict produced the reporting that established the factual predicate. For example, The Wall Street Journal produced the foundational reporting on how Kushner raised billions from foreign governments to fund Affinity Partners, including $2 billion from the Saudis. The Washington Post, meanwhile, broke the story on MBS lobbying Trump to initiate the war in Iran, but did not mention Kushner’s financial relationship with the Saudis — even though MBS controls the Saudi PIF.