$2 Billion in alleged UAE-Saudi financial dealings: trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner denies claims
Jared Kushner has denied allegations in a report claiming his hacked iPhone revealed UAE-linked bank accounts and financial dealings involving $2 billion connected to Gulf leaders.
Jared Kushner has rejected allegations of secret financial arrangements involving officials from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia after a report claimed Dutch intelligence gained access to his iPhone and monitored activity linked to foreign bank accounts during Donald Trump’s first administration.
The allegations were published on October 22, 2026, in Vanity Fair as an excerpt from investigative journalist Matthew Cole’s forthcoming book, Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East. The report describes alleged financial arrangements involving Kushner, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The claims have been denied by Kushner and other people named in the report, and the allegations have not been established as findings of wrongdoing.
According to Cole’s account, Dutch military intelligence service MIVD obtained access to screenshots from Kushner’s iPhone through a Russian operative linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. The screenshots were reportedly discovered on a server in the Russian city of Rostov. Dutch intelligence investigators allegedly used the material to understand how the phone had been accessed and were subsequently able to monitor activity on the device.
The report claims that intelligence officers observed Kushner accessing a bank account in the UAE that had received hundreds of millions of dollars through transfers originating from Azerbaijan. The alleged account was held at First Abu Dhabi Bank in the name of the Watani Al Emarat Foundation, a UAE government-funded charity. According to the report, approximately $750 million was associated with the account, and Kushner was reportedly listed as a signatory, giving him access without making him its owner.
Cole’s account further alleges that financial arrangements involving the UAE and Saudi leadership extended beyond that account. The report describes a separate transfer of approximately $1 billion routed through Azerbaijan to an account in Israel that was allegedly intended for Kushner’s benefit. It also describes discussions about another account connected to proposed UAE-Israel defence cooperation. Taken together, the reported arrangements involved at least $2 billion across multiple accounts, although the full details and purposes of the alleged transactions remain disputed.
The report places the alleged arrangements within the diplomatic efforts of Trump’s first administration, when Kushner served as a senior White House adviser and worked on Middle East policy. According to Cole, the proposed financial mechanisms were connected to efforts to advance regional diplomatic objectives, including relations between Israel and Gulf states. The report also discusses alleged communications involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and David Friedman, who served as the US ambassador to Israel during Trump’s first term.
Kushner strongly rejected the report in a statement posted on X on October 22. He described the allegations as “completely insane and never happened” and said the author had not provided evidence to substantiate them. Kushner specifically pointed to the absence of bank statements, wire-transfer records, account numbers, transaction dates and other verifiable details. He also said he had cooperated with investigations during the period in question, including providing more than 30 hours of testimony, and argued that the allegations had not surfaced during those investigations.
Chad Mizelle, Kushner’s attorney, also denied the claims, describing them as false and disputing the existence of the alleged accounts. David Friedman separately denied allegations concerning his involvement in the reported arrangement, according to coverage of the report.
