# Timeline on Jared Kushner, Qatar, 666 Fifth Avenue, and White House Policy  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Ryan Goodman]] - Full Title:: Timeline on Jared Kushner, Qatar, 666 Fifth Avenue, and White House Policy - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.justsecurity.org/69094/timeline-on-jared-kushner-qatar-666-fifth-avenue-and-white-house-policy/ ## Highlights > When the Kushner Companies purchased 666 Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan in early 2007 for a record-breaking price of $1.8 billion, it was supposed to be a center of their real estate portfolio. Instead, the Kushners have struggled to cover their debt on the troubled building since shortly after its purchase on the eve of the financial crisis ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zhxt1mnje47wext5r50795)) > As Jared Kushner’s father-in-law, Donald J. Trump, was running for President, the Kushners were pitching Qatari investors to help bail out the building ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zhy73rb6yjfe6sh23dy3ac)) > Later, a financial company tied to Qatar brokered an especially valuable deal to rescue the Kushner Companies’ property at 666 Fifth Avenue. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zhztcc92ygpc48qg9djt08)) > The following is a timeline of events related to the Kushners’ pursuit of funding from Qatar for 666 Fifth Avenue and the Trump-Kushner support for the Saudi-UAE blockade of Qatar. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zj2gc3cdaxpd5k6z0z6ksq)) > The [Kushner Companies](http://www.kushnercompanies.com/index2.html) [purchases](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/realestate/commercial/07kushner.html?sq=pristin%20fifth%20avenue%20kushner&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=2&adxnnlx=1326824891-jStGz7/RaZB7ZeI2vCt47w), at Jared Kushner’s [urging](https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/jared-kushners-conflicts-of-interest-reach-a-crisis-point), 666 Fifth Avenue, an office tower in Midtown [Manhattan](http://topics.nytimes.com/top/classifieds/realestate/locations/newyork/newyorkcity/manhattan/?inline=nyt-geo), for $1.8 billion at the height of the real estate market. They [invest](https://theintercept.com/2017/07/10/jared-kushner-tried-and-failed-to-get-a-half-billion-dollar-bailout-from-qatar/) $500 million, and cover the remaining amount with debt. Even before the financial crisis hits, there are signs that they paid too high a price and took on too much debt for the purchase. It was, at the time, the [highest purchase price ever paid](https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/jared-kushners-conflicts-of-interest-reach-a-crisis-point) for a New York office tower. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zj3g71y0hryr59jf2t5xtf)) > loan. The building is [appraised](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-high-stakes-gamble-how-jared-kushner-reacted-to-previous-crises/2017/05/27/d1c16f54-3f2b-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html) at $820 million, **less than half** of what the Kushners paid for it in 2007 and less than the debt they owe to banks. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zj4n4degq4hccncr7kc229)) > Soon after the election, Prince Mohammad Bin Salman sends a delegation of Saudi officials to meet with Kushner and other Trump advisers. They subsequently write an unflattering [assessment](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/08/troubling-overlap-between-jared-kushner-business-interests-and-us-foreign-policy) that later leaks. It says that Trump’s “inner circle is predominantly deal makers who lack familiarity with political customs and deep institutions, and they support Jared Kushner.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zjr5jq3mjj00b76zx6gzdv)) > He [sells](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/08/troubling-overlap-between-jared-kushner-business-interests-and-us-foreign-policy) some assets to a family trust, including his stake in 666 Fifth Avenue. However, he retains the [vast majority](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/business/jared-kushner-apollo-citigroup-loans.html) of his interest in the [Kushner Companies](http://www.kushnercompanies.com/index2.html), and transfers a small portion of his stake in the company to a trust overseen by his mother. He maintains real estate and other holdings worth around [$800 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/business/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-investing.html). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zjtehdbhbpzsfm1w8mhqnh)) > Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster expressed early concern that Kushner was freelancing U.S. foreign policy. … McMaster was concerned there were no official records kept of what was said on the calls,” the Post reported ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zjw503y65r5a4cga8dnyja)) > The analyst worried that refusing the deal had a political cost. “Here’s a question for you: If they had given Kushner the money, would there have been a blockade? I don’t think so.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zk1kghghwf4a5cpp0tmf1h)) > In a [shock](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/06/qatar-panic-buying-as-shoppers-stockpile-food-due-to-saudi-blockade) to Qatar, Trump initially expresses [support](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/06/qatar-panic-buying-as-shoppers-stockpile-food-due-to-saudi-blockade) for the blockade, in contradiction to the official U.S. government position of neutrality. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zk4sgy0dtv62rc4baf1wzn)) > **Important note: The Qataris reportedly believe the blockade may be linked to their rejection of funding for 666 Fifth Avenue**. “Some top Qatari government officials believe the White House’s position on the blockade may have been a form of retaliation driven by Kushner who was sour about the failed deal, according to multiple people familiar with the matter,” NBC News [reported](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/mueller-team-asking-if-kushner-foreign-business-ties-influenced-trump-n852681). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zk6bc38cv74szp6ptxp3qj)) > Bloomberg News [reports](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-12/kushners-manhattan-tower-on-track-for-its-worst-year-since-2011), “The [666 Fifth Ave.] tower’s cash flow is enough to cover only about half of the debt payments on the building, down from 66 percent last year.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zk88pf8rdzjvw8vsjk1dz4)) > The Kushners receive a $184 million [loan](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/business/jared-kushner-apollo-citigroup-loans.html) from Apollo Global Management to refinance a building in Chicago. The Qatar Investment Authority is one of Apollo’s largest investors. The loan is [triple](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/business/jared-kushner-apollo-citigroup-loans.html) the average property loan made by Apollo. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zk987rgqfeyq54pwzs77me)) > On Feb. 27, 2018, the Washington Post [reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kushners-overseas-contacts-raise-concerns-as-foreign-officials-seek-leverage/2018/02/27/16bbc052-18c3-11e8-942d-16a950029788_story.html) that officials in at least four countries – including the UAE and China – have discussed ways to manipulate Jared Kushner, including through his business arrangements, financial difficulties, and inexperience in foreign policy. The Post also reports that in the view of White House officials, “Kushner’s lack of government experience and his **business debt** were seen from the beginning of his tenure as potential points of leverage that foreign governments could use to influence him.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zkbazx1653y6qxzse4095c)) > Kushner Companies [negotiate](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/nyregion/kushner-deal-qatar-666-5th.html) a bailout deal for 666 Fifth Avenue with Brookfield Asset Management and the Qatari sovereign wealth fund ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zkc3bz2e1dcbn1w4gxyxrp)) > On Aug. 3, the Kushners reach a [deal](https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/03/news/companies/kushner-666-fifth-avenue-brookfield/index.html) to bailout 666 Fifth Avenue through a 99-year lease to Brookfield Asset Management for about $1.1 billion in [rent for the entire 99-year term](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/nyregion/kushners-building-fifth-avenue-brookfield-lease.html) paid upfront, easing their financial troubles by allowing them to [pay off](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/nyregion/kushners-building-fifth-avenue-brookfield-lease.html) most of what they owe lenders on the building. The Qatar Investment Authority is the second-largest investor in Brookfield. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zkd77hkt706jc75xcpwg0v)) > In order to finance its over $1 billion deal on 666 Fifth Avenue, Brookfield receives a $300 million-plus mezzanine [loan](https://therealdeal.com/2018/11/15/brookfield-turns-to-apollo-for-666-fifth-financing/) from Apollo Global Management, a private equity company with ties to Qatar that had previously loaned $184 million to the Kushners in November 2017. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h7zkfwnmkv55d9c1cwb6qz3z))