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The Prodigal Son-In-Law Returns

Jared Kushner has quietly reemerged as an off-the-books diplomat in Trump’s second term, securing a ceasefire in Gaza and now negotiating with Putin to end the war in Ukraine. And foreign-policy types, who often disdained Kushner during Trump I, are mostly happy to have him back.

Jared Kusher
After five hours at a large white table with Putin, however, Kushner came away empty-handed. He and Witkoff decided to use what had worked before, and essentially copied parts of the Gaza peace plan into the Ukraine peace plan. But not all wars are created equal, and a real diplomat can discern that. Photo: Kristina Kormilitsyna / POOL / AFP / Getty Images
Julia Ioffe
December 18, 2025

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Earlier this month, when White House special envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Moscow for the sixth time to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, the longtime real estate developer was joined by another self-styled dealmaker: Jared Kushner. The two men dined at a restaurant just outside the Kremlin walls, where they sampled the crab and the venison. Afterward, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, took the American duo for a stroll through Red Square before eventually ushering Kushner and Witkoff into a five-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin.