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Quick Take
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund invested money with Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, after he left the White House in 2021. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News that the fund would keep its commitment to that investment. But social media posts are making the unfounded claim that Kushner has to return the money.
Full Story
Jared Kushner, son-in-law and former advisor to former President Donald Trump, started an investment fund, Affinity Partners, after leaving the White House following Trump’s failed bid for reelection in 2020.
Among the first funders was the Saudi Public Investment Fund — run by the Saudi Arabian government — which reportedly invested $2 billion. House Democrats had begun an investigation into the deal before losing control of the chamber in the 2022 midterm election.
Now, posts are circulating on Instagram with the unfounded claim, “looks like Jared Kushner has to ‘pay back the $2billion from Saudi Arabia In Full to The Government.'”
The posts echo a Feb. 2 thread that was posted on X and has been viewed 1.5 million times, according to the platform.
The thread cites an interview aired on Fox News in September between anchor Bret Baier and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The thread claims that, in the interview, Salman “suggested the money could be moved if Trump, who currently leads the 2024 GOP primary field, loses the 2024 Election.”
But the crown prince said no such thing.
In fact, Salman, speaking in English, told Baier that the investment is “a commitment that PIF have and when PIF have commitment with any investor around the globe, it keep it.”
The website associated with the X account that posted the claim is called Politics Video Channel. It was registered in 2017 and has, since then, regularly posted left-leaning content about American politics. The site is registered to a person in Australia, though. We emailed him to ask if there was any evidence to support his claim about the Saudi investment in Kushner’s fund, but we didn’t get a response.
So, all the copy-cat claims circulating on social media are just repeating a misrepresentation of what Salman said in a September interview.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Meta to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Meta has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
Maloney, Carolyn B. Chairwoman, U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Letter to Jared Kushner. 2 Jun 2022.
Kirkpatrick, David D. and Kate Kelly. “Before Giving Billions to Jared Kushner, Saudi Investment Fund Had Big Doubts.” New York Times. 10 Apr 2022.
Fox News (@FoxNews). “‘GOOD NEGOTIATIONS’: Saudi crown prince says ‘every day’ is a day closer to peace with Israel.” YouTube.com. 22 Sep 2023.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Domain information for politicsvideochannel.com. Updated 22 Dec 2023.