A new report alleges that Dutch intelligence officers gained access to Jared Kushner’s iPhone during Donald Trump’s first presidency and uncovered a trail of financial transactions involving hundreds of millions of dollars, Gulf Arab leaders, and a bank account in the United Arab Emirates.
The findings, detailed by investigative journalist Matthew Cole in Vanity Fair, raise serious questions about Kushner’s access to foreign funds while serving as a senior White House adviser and helping shape U.S. policy in the Middle East, while also providing him with a potential personal financial benefit.
According to Cole, Dutch intelligence obtained screenshots of Kushner’s phone after a Russian hacker who had worked with Russian military intelligence agreed to cooperate with Western intelligence services. The Dutch reportedly discovered that Kushner was accessing a UAE-based bank account that had received hundreds of millions of dollars routed through a bank in Azerbaijan.
The account, identified in the report as “Alpha,” reportedly received more than $750 million from Saudi and Emirati sources beginning in 2017.
Cole also alleges that Kushner appeared to transfer substantial sums from the account to other individuals, including a warlord, a mercenary, and a former hit man.
The alleged transactions, combined with Kushner’s role in the Trump administration, raise questions about who controlled the money, what it was used for, and whether the arrangement received proper authorization and oversight.
The report traces the financial arrangement to discussions involving Kushner, United Arab Emirates leader Mohamed bin Zayed, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
According to Cole, the leaders initially discussed creating a fund worth more than $10 billion to advance foreign-policy objectives during Trump’s first term. That broader proposal was eventually abandoned, the report says.
Instead, at least $2 billion was placed in two bank accounts linked to Kushner, according to Cole’s reporting. The accounts were reportedly intended to support policy objectives in the Middle East.
One source quoted by Cole claimed Kushner promised to advance the Emirati leader’s agenda with Trump in exchange for contributions to a fund. The source also alleged that Kushner wanted normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE to help business interests flourish.
The Alpha account was reportedly held at First Abu Dhabi Bank and belonged to Watani Al Emarat, a government-funded Emirati charitable foundation. According to Cole, Kushner was authorized to make transactions despite not owning the account.
Cole also reports that sources familiar with the foundation said it had been used as a cover for funding covert Emirati military and intelligence operations abroad. That allegation adds another layer of concern to the account’s reported role, although it does not by itself establish that every transaction through the account funded such operations.
Four former senior Trump administration officials—including two national security advisers, a White House chief of staff, and a former CIA director—told Cole they knew of no presidential authorization permitting Kushner to use a foreign government’s bank account.
Kushner’s lawyer disputed the implications of the reporting, saying Kushner did not enter into agreements or arrangements with foreign leaders or officials without the president’s approval and that his actions were taken in the interests of the United States.
Kushner has rejected the accusations, describing them as outrageous and categorically false. He argued that Cole had failed to provide evidence supporting the claims.
Still, the central questions are significant: Why did a senior White House adviser reportedly have transaction authority over a foreign-linked account containing hundreds of millions of dollars? Who authorized that access? And what safeguards, if any, were in place to prevent private financial arrangements from intersecting with U.S. foreign policy?
Cole’s reporting presents a troubling account of money, diplomacy, and access during Trump’s first term. The denials and unresolved questions are essential parts of the story—and further documentation would be needed to establish the full purpose and legality of the reported transfers.
