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Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser, accused CNN of publishing “a deeply misleading article and headline” suggesting that its “diplomatic work in the Middle East somehow benefited investments in Israeli defense companies” in a fiery social media post Friday.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who rarely criticizes the media publicly, took to X to rebuke a paywalled CNN report titled “How Jared Kushner’s investment in an Israeli company could constitute a major conflict of interest,” published Thursday.
The report notes that Kushner acted as a key negotiator regarding the Gaza war while his company, Affinity Partners, “held the largest stake in an Israeli company supporting companies involved in Israeli military campaigns.”
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Jared Kushner accused CNN of publishing “a deeply misleading story and headline.” (Andriy Zhyhaylo/Getty Images)
Kushner argued that CNN’s own reporting contradicted the headline, but said readers without a paid subscription to the website were left in the dark.
“Buried behind a paywall, he acknowledges: ‘CNN found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments examined,'” Kushner wrote.
Indeed, CNN said it found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat had a direct impact on investments, but that point was buried in 10 paragraphs and visible only to paid CNN subscribers.
The lengthy report states: “CNN used Israeli financial transparency laws to trace some of the military-linked investments of Phoenix Financial, a Tel Aviv-based company in which Kushner’s investment group doubled its stake last year, shortly before Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office. »
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Jared Kushner, son-in-law and advisor to President Donald Trump, arrives for a joint press conference between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the State Dining Room of the White House September 29, 2025, in Washington, DC (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“These records, which cover only a fraction of Phoenix’s holdings, show that Phoenix invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems. Phoenix also has stakes in at least eight other companies supplying equipment to the Israeli military, ranging from drones to warships to demolition machines, CNN found,” according to the report.
“All nine companies identified by CNN saw their stock values rise last year, with many saying the war in Gaza boosted demand for their businesses,” the CNN report continues. “Affinity does not directly own a stake in the nine companies identified by CNN, but it could reap rewards when Phoenix turns a profit.”
CNN also noted that Kushner described Phoenix as a significant investment for Affinity.
In his response, Kushner said Phoenix is not a defense company, despite CNN’s comments, and defended his company’s investments.
“It is one of Israel’s largest publicly traded financial institutions, highly regulated and managing approximately $220 billion across thousands of investments,” Kushner wrote.
“Think of Phoenix as Israel’s equivalent of Vanguard or Fidelity. It manages the retirement savings of millions of Israelis. Savers don’t choose individual investments, and neither do I,” Kushner continued. “I have no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells. The results have been very good for Affinity and our investors, more than five times since our initial investment.”
Kushner added that Affinity is an SEC-registered investment company.
“Our investment in Phoenix is public and dates from before President Trump’s re-election and before my return to public office. Affinity does not own the defense companies highlighted in the CNN article,” Kushner wrote.
“These facts make for a less provocative headline, but a much more accurate story,” he continued. “Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together, and pursue peace. This work is too important.”
A CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “we stand by our reporting.”
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Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump visiting New York in April 2026. (Ivanka Trump/Instagram)
In a separate post, Kushner said he had ignored “false and misleading stories” over the past decade, but “the cycle has gotten out of control where old lies are repeated as fact, new ones are added, and information is increasingly distorted,” so he felt the need to respond.
CNN published a statement from Kushner’s lawyer, which was also hidden behind the paywall.
“Any suggestion that Jared’s diplomatic work influenced Phoenix’s investments in the companies you identify, or vice versa, is incorrect,” the lawyer told CNN.
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A White House spokesperson also told CNN that the suggestion that Kushner’s personal business activities had anything to do with his diplomatic engagements is a “tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family and his administration for a decade.”
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