Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday nominated New York real estate developer Charles Kushner as his envoy to France.
Kushner is the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Jared played a key role in the first term of the Trump Administration including the Israel-Palestine peace plan. He is married to Ivanka Trump, daughter of President-elect Donald Trump.
“I am pleased to nominate Charles Kushner, of New Jersey, to serve as the US Ambassador to France. He is a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our Country & its interests,” Trump announced.
“He is a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker, who will be a strong advocate representing our Country & its interests.”
Kushner, 70, pleaded guilty in 2004 to 16 counts of tax evasion, a single count of retaliating against a federal witness and one of lying to the Federal Election Commission in a case that became a lasting source of embarrassment for the family. As part of the plea, Mr. Kushner admitted to hiring a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, a witness in a federal campaign finance investigation, and sending a videotape of the encounter to his sister.
Trump granted Kushner clemency as part of a wave of 26 pardons he issued with roughly a month left in his first term, along with other close associates including Paul Manafort, his 2016 campaign chairman, and Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime ally and informal adviser.
In addition to securing a pardon for himself, Kushner was instrumental in helping others seeking clemency elevate their cases, relying on his son as a bridge to help get applications in front of Mr. Trump.
The case against Kushner was prosecuted by Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who was then a U.S. attorney. Christie has since become a vocal critic of Trump and continued to describe Kushner’s transgressions as severe.
Kushner served two years in prison before his release in 2006.
While widely seen as one of the most prized ambassador positions, the role Mr. Kushner will be nominated for could be complicated by the at times standoffish position Trump took toward President Emmanuel Macron of France during his first term.
As president, Mr. Trump also expressed support for Macron’s far-right challenger in the 2017 French presidential election, Marine Le Pen, whose hard-line stance against immigration Trump praised.
Macron, who has been a staunch supporter of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Ukraine, will serve until mid-2027. Mr. Trump has repeatedly questioned the value of Western support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, and has also publicly sparred with Macron over other contentious policy disagreements, including trade issues and the U.S. withdrawal from a nuclear deal with Iran.
