Former White House adviser Jared Kushner described the inside story of the Trump administration’s Gaza ceasefire negotiations on CBS’s 60 Minutes Sunday night, detailing how business-style tactics helped bring about a rare moment of peace in the Middle East.
Kushner, joined by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, said the team relied on “intensely personal techniques of real estate dealmakers,” including “dangling presidential promises, protections or punishments” rather than the “stupid word games” of traditional diplomacy.
“We wanted the hostages to come out. We wanted a real ceasefire that both sides would respect,” Kushner said. “We needed a way to bring humanitarian aid into the people. And then we had to write all these complex words to deal with the 50 years of stupid word games that everyone in that region is so used to playing.”
Pressed about whether his business ties to the region created conflicts of interest, Kushner defended his background. “What people call conflicts of interest, Steve and I call experience and trusted relationships,” he said. “If Steve and I didn’t have these deep relationships, the deal we were able to get done, that freed these hostages would not have occurred.”
Witkoff added that the negotiations ended on a hopeful note: “I wish people could see people from Qatar hugging people from Israel. And by the way, it happened with the Turks too, and it happened with the Egyptians.”
