On Saturday, Donald Trump announced that he would choose Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law and former advisor Jared Kushner, as United States ambassador to France. This choice corresponds to a new atypical appointment by Trump, C. Kushner having had problems with the law.
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This real estate tycoon will be sent to Paris to “strengthen the partnership between the United States and France, our oldest ally and one of our strongest,” explained the future American president in his Truth Social network.
Charles Kushner spent a year in federal prison for tax embezzlement and was pardoned by Donald Trump towards the end of his first term in the White House – a criminal record that raises questions for such a post as an American diplomat.
His son Jared Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump (the future president’s eldest daughter), was an advisor, particularly on the Middle East, during Trump’s first presidency.
AFP
Charles Kushner, now 70, once handed the reins to his son to run the family real estate empire, Kushner Companies. Because he had to serve a prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2004 to tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal contributions to electoral campaigns.
The businessman notably admitted sordid acts in the context of this affair: he had hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law who was then collaborating in an investigation into campaign financing. Mr. Kushner had filmed the meeting between them and then showed it to his sister (the man’s wife), in order to dissuade her from testifying against him.
AFP
Controversial choice
On Saturday, Mr. Trump called Charles Kushner a “brilliant business leader,” a “philanthropist” and a “good negotiator,” without ever mentioning his legal woes.
Since his election against Kamala Harris on November 5, Mr. Trump has made a number of sensational appointments within his administration, surrounding himself with loyalists with often controversial profiles.
He notably appointed as Minister of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a man notoriously skeptical of vaccines.
Billionaire Elon Musk must, for his part, co-lead a commission responsible for cutting public spending.
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Mr. Trump also appointed as defense secretary Pete Hegseth, a Fox News anchor who was the subject of an investigation for sexual assault, although no complaint was filed.
The Republican tribune also tried to impose, as future Minister of Justice, Matt Gaetz, a parliamentarian accused of having had a sexual relationship with a minor. But faced with the outcry triggered by this project, the person concerned ended up giving it up.
In his place, Mr. Trump chose one of his ex-lawyers, Pam Bondi. She will be supported at the ministry by three of the billionaire’s personal lawyers – Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and John Sauer. Their mission is clear: to put an end to what Donald Trump, convicted in criminal proceedings at the end of May, considers to be an “instrumentalization” of justice, and to become the armed arm of his revenge.
