---
title: "This week I get into what Jared Kushner’s botched real estate projects tell us…"
source: "https://www.instagram.com/p/DeSBrEJhuaF"
platform: "Instagram"
factual_accuracy: 74
overall_accuracy: 66
tags: ["jared kushner", "us involvement", "ukraine war", "dollar diplomacy", "private profit foreign policy", "middle east investors"]
---
# Source fact-check: This week I get into what Jared Kushner’s botched real estate projects tell us…
Original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DeSBrEJhuaF
Factual accuracy: 74% · Overall accuracy: 66%
## Source post
**Target post by @simonostrovsky**
> This week I get into what Jared Kushner’s botched real estate projects tell us about his approach to diplomacy. I break down his troubled business ventures in the Balkans, his Middle Eastern financial backers, and the increasingly blurred lines between private profit and American foreign policy. Link in bio for the full post.
> [attached video 0](https://scontent-lga3-2.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t2/f2/m86/AQOXGysdX_OX8gfD1cCb-RHQdxMxNMPWNtHOkQ2Y4-LBWalmbiJzx5vZZ01Tr9HhcpAngFJ9CrW7zLykGHUH1sjPRcJA8L1vX2HWzM0.mp4?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=5e9851&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.cdninstagram.com&_nc_ohc=Y-rEw1ti-1AQ7kNvwGdiLRz&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6Inhwdl9wcm9ncmVzc2l2ZS5JTlNUQUdSQU0uQ0xJUFMuQzMuNzIwLmRhc2hfYmFzZWxpbmVfMV92MSIsInhwdl9hc3NldF9pZCI6MTU4ODg2NDQzODg2NTU1MywiYXNzZXRfYWdlX2RheXMiOjAsInZpX3VzZWNhc2VfaWQiOjEwMDk5LCJkdXJhdGlvbl9zIjo4MCwidXJsZ2VuX3NvdXJjZSI6Ind3dyJ9&ccb=17-1&vs=95124687be40ece2&_nc_vs=HBksFQIYUmlnX3hwdl9yZWVsc19wZXJtYW5lbnRfc3JfcHJvZC9COTlFQjRFRTE3QUQ0NDREOTZFQUY5MzREREI1N0JEQV92aWRlb19kYXNoaW5pdC5tcDQVAALIARIAFQIYUWlnX3hwdl9wbGFjZW1lbnRfcGVybWFuZW50X3YyL0IxMURDNjY1RTFERDQ0Mjk5RUUyRTNBOTEwMjlCRTZEX2F1ZGlvX2Rhc2hpbml0Lm1wNBUCAsgBEgAoABgAGwKIB3VzZV9vaWwBMRJwcm9ncmVzc2l2ZV9yZWNpcGUBMRUAACaiuszHisTSBRUCKAJDMywXQFQ6n752yLQYEmRhc2hfYmFzZWxpbmVfMV92MREAdf4HZeadAQA&_nc_gid=NbRXhOQdw7mk7X1CGRvxnQ&_nc_ss=78689&_nc_zt=28&oh=00_AQNInsfQOtLSp-OcU40dsSzAZc2CZ3yFtjsesCijNtP4Hg&oe=6ACB2A22)
>
> Video transcript: So let's take a little bit of an accounting over what has happened in the war in Ukraine since the Trump administration came to power. We've rescinded financial and military support for Ukraine, preferring instead to sell the weapons to the Europeans, force them to pay for it, and then they transfer the weapons to Ukraine. So we're no longer funding Ukraine's war effort. We're sending emissaries to Russia to try to do deals when Ukraine is under more and more pressure as a result of us rescinding our financial support. Now, the shape of the deals is starting to crystallize and starting to come out, and we're seeing exactly who's going to benefit, and it's not the Ukrainians, or, seemingly, the American public. If this is what Jared Kushner's dollar diplomacy boils down to, then it seems like Trump and co. are the only ones getting a good deal. So what's in it for the Middle Eastern partners of Jared Kushner who are fronting the money for all of these projects? Well, according to the New Yorker, an acquaintance of Jared put it quite succinctly. He said, "It's not complicated. All the Middle Eastern countries investing Jared's fun, they suck his
## Post analysis
Verdict: 66% · Model: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · Checked on: 09/10/2026
Based on my review, here is my assessment.
**Reasoning:**
- The post's headline thesis — that Kushner's Balkans real estate ventures are "troubled" and that he has Middle Eastern financial backers, creating "blurred lines between private profit and American foreign policy" — is well-supported. The Balkans projects are indeed beset by investigations, protests, land-title disputes, and asset freezes[^1], and his firm is funded largely by Gulf sovereign wealth funds[^2].
- The video's supporting claims about the Ukraine policy mechanism are mostly accurate: the US does sell weapons that European allies pay for and then transfer to Ukraine[^3], and the US has sent envoys to Russia to negotiate while Ukraine faces pressure[^4].
- However, a load-bearing claim in the video is substantially overstated: "We've rescinded financial and military support for Ukraine." This bundles financial and military aid, and the sweeping version is inaccurate — the pause applied to development assistance, not military aid, and the word "rescinded" overstates what was a temporary pause plus restructuring[^5]. At 30% validity, this is the post's weakest factual pillar, and it underpins the video's framing of US abandonment of Ukraine.
- The video's rhetorical punchline — the New Yorker quote from a Kushner acquaintance about Middle Eastern countries investing in his fund — could not be verified as actually published, leaving a central claim UNKNOWN[^6]. The underlying substance (Middle Eastern backers) is true, but the specific attribution is unconfirmed.
- The interpretive "blurred lines" framing is opinion built on a factual foundation that largely holds up, so it isn't itself misleading — but the overstated Ukraine-aid claim and the unverifiable quote pull the overall accuracy down.
**Overall validity**: 66%
[^1]:
[Jared Kushner has had troubled real estate and business ventures in the Balkans.](#3ce33fe7-4093-478e-a7b8-e3b4923897c5)
[^2]:
[Jared Kushner has Middle Eastern financial backers who are providing funding for his projects.](#65e27db0-0cfc-4329-9133-86f6e37bbc77)
[^3]:
[The United States is selling weapons to European countries, forcing them to pay for the weapons, and the European countries then transfer those weapons to Ukraine.](#93f4ba59-7365-4356-9a0f-d3a37fc3a6ac)
[^4]:
[The United States is sending emissaries to Russia to negotiate deals while Ukraine is under increasing pressure from the rescinded US financial support.](#8bee79dc-5555-4f7f-81a4-70ee506c3db6)
[^5]:
[The Trump administration rescinded financial and military support for Ukraine.](#21a83e68-5ae3-4297-921a-e505ad079e38)
[^6]:
[The New Yorker published a quote from an acquaintance of Jared Kushner in which the acquaintance commented on Middle Eastern countries investing in Jared Kushner's funds.](#5d6319c4-0f93-4e77-bac9-f5448da6140f)
## Claims found (6)
### 1. Jared Kushner has had troubled real estate and business ventures in the Balkans. — 90%
Model: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · Checked on: 09/10/2026 · Detail: /claim/3ce33fe7-4093-478e-a7b8-e3b4923897c5
Based on my research, here's what I found:
- Kushner's firm Affinity Partners is developing major luxury resort projects in Albania (a $1.4 billion resort on Sazan island and a $4.7 billion development in the Zvërnec/Narta Lagoon area), with Ivanka Trump involved[^1].
- These projects have run into serious trouble: Albanian authorities opened an official inquiry into how the protected status of the land was altered in 2024 to allow development, and the projects have triggered public protests over environmental concerns[^1].
- Albania's anti-corruption prosecutors (SPAK) froze bank accounts tied to a company involved in the resort project, as part of an investigation into allegedly fraudulent property titles in the protected coastal area[^2].
- The Albanian government's facilitation of the project is itself contested, with competing claims about the legality of the land's privatization and anti-corruption authorities investigating the matter[^3].
The evidence confirms that Kushner's Balkans ventures (centered on Albania) have indeed been beset by investigations, protests, legal disputes over land titles, and asset freezes — i.e., they are "troubled."
**Overall validity**: 90%
[^1]:
[Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are planning to use Gulf cash and political ties to build a resort in Albania.](/claim/eI26GyxrGNB8rpm017dR)
[^2]:
[Albania’s anti‑corruption prosecutors froze Jared Kushner’s assets in a $4 billion resort fraud investigation.](/claim/5HGtkBVkJTBqcPS3kdeF)
[^3]:
[Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama decided to transfer a pristine island and agricultural land in Albania to a project promoted by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.](/claim/BywkUNEpy1VK0XhMa8yT)
### 2. The Trump administration rescinded financial and military support for Ukraine. — 30%
Model: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · Checked on: 09/10/2026 · Detail: /claim/21a83e68-5ae3-4297-921a-e505ad079e38
Based on my research, here is my assessment:
- The claim bundles two different things — financial support and military support — and asserts both were **"rescinded"** (i.e., permanently withdrawn). Each half has to be checked separately.
- **Financial/development aid — largely has substance.** The Trump administration's early-2025 order imposed a 90‑day pause on U.S. foreign *development* assistance, and it moved to dismantle USAID and "nearly eliminat\[e\] humanitarian foreign health aid," so a real withdrawal of non-military funding did occur[^1][^2].
- **Military aid — not supported.** The relevant fact-checks make clear the sweeping version ("stopped *all* aid to Ukraine, including military aid") is not accurate: the executive order applied only to foreign development assistance (humanitarian, economic, medical, educational programs) and did **not** pause military aid to Ukraine[^1]. Military aid and intelligence sharing were briefly suspended in early 2025 but were restored within days, and the U.S. continued to back Ukraine (including arms transfers/sales and intelligence).
- The word **"rescinded" overstates** what was in practice a temporary pause plus a restructuring of aid; U.S. support to Ukraine was not permanently cancelled, and the administration was simultaneously engaged in Ukraine diplomacy[^3][^4].
- Net: the claim has a kernel of truth (financial/development cuts) but is substantially overstated, particularly on the military side.
**Overall validity**: 30%
[^1]:
[No, "all US aid to Ukraine" isn't paused because of Trump's order ...](https://gwaramedia.com/en/debunking-manipulations-no-all-us-aid-to-ukraine-isnt-paused-because-of-trumps-order/)
[^2]:
[The second Trump presidency: Health care themes, policies, and impacts in his first year back in office.](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2026.105648)
[^3]:
[Donald Trump sent some of his senior advisers to work with both the Russian and Ukrainian sides to end the Ukraine war.](/claim/fa2330e9-dd67-4c32-bf06-2955f876e885)
[^4]:
[Donald Trump initiated a dialogue between Russia and Ukraine to end the Ukraine war.](/claim/a3e71970-2eb9-4311-b679-d8fd5dd7dcb9)
### 3. The United States is selling weapons to European countries, forcing them to pay for the weapons, and the European countries then transfer those weapons to Ukraine. — 80%
Model: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · Checked on: 09/10/2026 · Detail: /claim/93f4ba59-7365-4356-9a0f-d3a37fc3a6ac
Based on my research, here's my assessment:
- The mechanism described in the claim is a real, documented arrangement. On July 14, 2025, Donald Trump announced a policy under which modern American weapons would be supplied to Ukraine, but "first be paid for by European NATO members and then transferred there"[^1]. This directly matches the claim's core sequence: US sells weapons → European countries pay → weapons transferred to Ukraine.
- NATO has institutionalized this via the PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) mechanism, through which NATO Allies provide weapons and air-defence systems to Ukraine[^2]. PURL works by having European allies pool funds to purchase US weapons that are then delivered to Ukraine.
- The broader trend is corroborated by arms-transfer data: European states' major-arms imports rose 155% between 2015–19 and 2020–24, with the United States as the dominant supplier[^3], and Europe sharply increased military aid to Ukraine while US aid collapsed[^4].
- The one editorial element is the word "forcing." The US did strongly pressure European allies to shoulder the cost (a hallmark of the Trump administration's approach), so this is a fair characterization of the leverage applied, though European governments formally agreed to participate rather than being literally coerced.
The substantive chain of the claim — US sells weapons, European countries pay, and those weapons are then transferred to Ukraine — is well supported. The "forcing" framing is political spin but consistent with the pressure the US applied.
**Overall validity**: 80%
[^1]:
[Why Europeans Paying for US Weapons for Ukraine Is a Unique Opportunity](https://doi.org/10.60823/dgap-25-42472-en)
[^2]:
[NATO supported Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.](/claim/c67b6944-453c-4226-a0a4-5e4eae94151e)
[^3]:
[Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2024](https://doi.org/10.55163/xxsz9056)
[^4]:
[Europe steps up: Ukraine support after four years of war](https://openalex.org/W7130496114)
### 4. The United States is sending emissaries to Russia to negotiate deals while Ukraine is under increasing pressure from the rescinded US financial support. — 75%
Model: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · Checked on: 09/10/2026 · Detail: /claim/8bee79dc-5555-4f7f-81a4-70ee506c3db6
##### Reasoning
- The first half of the claim — that the US is dispatching emissaries to Russia to negotiate — is well supported: the verified record confirms that in early September 2026 Washington sent Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv to revive stalled talks, and that US envoys met Russian officials with new peace proposals[^1][^2][^3]. This element rates \~95% valid.
- The second half — that Ukraine faces pressure from rescinded US financial support — is only partially corroborated. There is documented evidence of the US freezing/pausing foreign assistance: a 90-day pause on US foreign development assistance (humanitarian, economic, medical, educational programs) took effect, which affected aid streams including those to Ukraine[^4].
- However, that same order explicitly did **not** halt military aid[^4], so the blanket phrase "rescinded US financial support" is somewhat imprecise. Separate fact-checks also document that USAID had funded a large share of Ukrainian media, illustrating how a US funding freeze would indeed pressure Ukraine[^5].
- The "increasing pressure" framing is an interpretation rather than a discrete, checkable fact, and I could not retrieve current 2026 reporting (multiple web searches returned nothing) to quantify how much US financial support has actually been rescinded versus merely paused.
- Overall: the central, checkable assertion (US envoys to Russia to negotiate) is verified; the aid-pressure framing is directionally supported but overstated/imprecise, so the compound claim is largely — but not fully — accurate.
**Overall validity**: 75%
[^1]:
[Donald Trump initiated a dialogue between Russia and Ukraine to end the Ukraine war.](/claim/a3e71970-2eb9-4311-b679-d8fd5dd7dcb9)
[^2]:
[The President of the United States has been actively working to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine.](/claim/61suOdjnKCI2yz7sAiQr)
[^3]:
[Donald Trump sent some of his senior advisers to work with both the Russian and Ukrainian sides to end the Ukraine war.](/claim/fa2330e9-dd67-4c32-bf06-2955f876e885)
[^4]:
[No, "all US aid to Ukraine" isn't paused because of Trump's order ...](https://gwaramedia.com/en/debunking-manipulations-no-all-us-aid-to-ukraine-isnt-paused-because-of-trumps-order/)
[^5]:
[Manipulation: 90% of Ukraine's Media Were Totally Dependent on ...](https://www.stopfake.org/en/manipulation-90-of-ukraine-s-media-were-totally-dependent-on-usaid/)
### 5. Jared Kushner has Middle Eastern financial backers who are providing funding for his projects. — 95%
Model: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · Checked on: 09/10/2026 · Detail: /claim/65e27db0-0cfc-4329-9133-86f6e37bbc77
- The claim is directly supported by verified claim data: Kushner's firm Affinity Partners is funded almost entirely from abroad, notably by government wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates[^1].
- Qatari entrepreneurs Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat are also reportedly involved as investors in Kushner's Zvërnec (Albania) development project[^1].
- These Middle Eastern backers are tied to concrete Kushner projects, including a $1.4 billion resort on Sazan island and a $4.7 billion development in the Zvërnec/Narta Lagoon area[^1].
- No fact-checks contradicting this were found.
**Overall validity**: 95%
[^1]:
[Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are planning to use Gulf cash and political ties to build a resort in Albania.](/claim/eI26GyxrGNB8rpm017dR)
### 6. The New Yorker published a quote from an acquaintance of Jared Kushner in which the acquaintance commented on Middle Eastern countries investing in Jared Kushner's funds. — Unknown
Model: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · Checked on: 09/10/2026 · Detail: /claim/5d6319c4-0f93-4e77-bac9-f5448da6140f
I attempted every available avenue to verify this claim.
- The verified-claims database confirms the underlying substance — that Jared Kushner's firm, Affinity Partners, is funded largely from abroad by Gulf sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE[^1][^2] — but none of the returned claims address the specific assertion that The New Yorker published a quote from an acquaintance of Kushner.
- Searches of the professional fact-check database returned no matching reviews for this claim.
- A scientific-literature search surfaced only tangential material (e.g., an unrelated 2018 piece on a Kushner Middle East tour) with no bearing on the claim.
- All attempts to consult the open web (multiple search queries and direct page fetches) failed to return any results, so I could not locate the alleged New Yorker article, the acquaintance, or the quote itself.
Because the claim hinges on a specific, checkable publication event — a quote in The New Yorker attributed to an acquaintance of Kushner — and no source I obtained confirms (or refutes) that this quote was actually published, I cannot assign a defensible percentage.
**Overall validity**: Unknown
[^1]:
[Jared Kushner has Middle Eastern financial backers who are providing funding for his projects.](#65e27db0-0cfc-4329-9133-86f6e37bbc77)
[^2]:
[Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are planning to use Gulf cash and political ties to build a resort in Albania.](/claim/eI26GyxrGNB8rpm017dR)