THE WEEK

Jared Kushner reportedly lets Saudi royalty handle his 'entire schedule' on Riyadh trips
President Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Saudi Arabia last week, spending a good chunk of time meeting with its royal court. But officials and staffers in Riyadh's U.S. embassy say they have no idea what went on in those meetings — they weren't invited, they tell The Daily Beast. Then again, that's "normal" for Kushner's Saudi trips, one congressional source says. Kushner is close with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and reportedly defended him as intelligence officials tied him to the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi late last year. Kushner has since taken many trips to the region in the past few years, and pretty much every time, "the royal court was handling the entire schedule," a congressional source tells The Daily Beast. The White House noted Kushner's visit with bin Salman and King Salman last week, saying they discussed "U.S.-Saudi cooperation, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and economic investment in the region," The Daily Beast writes. "But no one from the embassy in Riyadh was in the meetings" or informed about what went on, The Daily Beast continues. One State Department senior official did attend the meetings, but he specializes on Iran, one source says. The White House countered this reporting, saying it "is not true and the sources are misinformed" and that the Riyadh embassy was involved in Kushner's visit. Read more at The Daily Beast. Kathryn Krawczyk

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