What the book alleges

The jared kushner book claims center on early 2017: Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) and Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) offered Kushner, a presidential adviser alongside Ivanka Trump, a fund and a bank account to pay for projects and foreign policy goals serving Trump. According to Cole, the princes - first both of them, later MBZ on his own - placed at least $2bn across at least two banks for Kushner, after an effort to pay for Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico fell through.

• •Cole gives the two accounts the labels "Alpha" and "Beta". Alpha, sitting at First Abu Dhabi Bank - the UAE's biggest bank - carried roughly $750m, designated as a foreign policy fund intended to help resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict
• •The Beta account, per Cole's source who was briefed on it, held roughly $1bn and, acting on Benjamin Netanyahu's suggestion, MBZ moved it to the Israeli Central Bank through Azerbaijan
• •Cole alleges the Alpha account was drained by failed schemes and Kushner's access was cut off, while it is unclear whether the Israeli government allowed him access to the Beta account after Trump's first term
• •A person with knowledge said the Beta account's allocation was for Kushner's personal benefit, though Cole writes it is unclear how Kushner used the money

Cole also claims Kushner managed parts of the accounts from an iPhone that Russian and Dutch intelligence had hacked; the Dutch government declined to comment.

Kushner's response

An excerpt published by Vanity Fair last Thursday immediately drew a furious response from Kushner.

Kushner denounced the book on his site and on X, writing: "We denied every one of these claims on the record, yet the author failed to provide a single shred of evidence". On X he said he voluntarily cooperated with multiple congressional investigations and a special counsel investigation, giving over 30 hours of testimony, and that none of these allegations ever surfaced. He wants Vanity Fair to retract the excerpt and has threatened legal action against the book's publisher, Simon & Schuster.

The lawyers' rebuttal

Attorney Alejandro Brito, who has represented Trump in multiple defamation lawsuits, told Cole that any allegation of Kushner knowing of, having access to, being authorized for, or directing any conduct related to a government-funded or government-linked bank account is totally false and defamatory. Brito said "there are no accounts and never were", and that his client had no financial relationships with any foreign countries or leaders, pointing to Kushner's OGE form 278e financial disclosure filings.

Chad Mizelle, a Trump administration lawyer who identified himself as "Jared's attorney", said on X: "The central allegation in this book is categorically false... there are no bank accounts. They don't exist." He called the claims egregious and defamatory without a shred of evidence. The Guardian contacted Kushner's legal counsel from Clare Locke as well as Mizelle for comment and received no response; the Saudi Arabian and Emirati embassies were also contacted without response.

The book's sourcing and context

Cole's sources are predominantly anonymous, and the book includes extensive footnotes citing confidential interviews but prints no images of emails or other documentation. In his epilogue, Cole writes that Kushner declined multiple requests for an on-the-record interview; Cole first sent a list of questions in May 2026 and followed up by email twice more. One reported line comes from UAE intelligence official Ali Al Shamsi, said to have called Kushner "the most expensive employee we've ever had".

Cole alleges MBZ and MBS wanted Kushner to help achieve their vision of a new Middle East: Israel integrated into the region, peace between Palestinians and Israel, Islamic extremism defeated and Iranian expansionism retreated. The book also examines how Kushner secured Qatari investment in 666 Fifth Avenue, a marquee Manhattan property, and the $2bn that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund put into his Affinity Partners private equity firm in 2021, after Trump left power; Kushner has denied engaging in any conflicts of interest.

Neither Kushner's legal counsel, Mizelle, nor the Saudi and Emirati embassies responded to requests for comment, and Kushner has threatened legal action against Simon & Schuster.