Trump administration deepens CRE ties with diplomatic appointment of pardoned developer
The US Senate has confirmed New Jersey real estate developer Charles Kushner as the next ambassador to France and Monaco, cementing another high-profile appointment from the commercial real estate (CRE) world into the second Trump administration.
Kushner, founder of Kushner Companies and father of Jared Kushner, was approved Monday in a 51-45 vote. Notably, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey broke ranks to support the nomination, while Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska opposed it.
Kushner, who was pardoned during the first Trump presidency in 2020, has a controversial history. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion involving $6 million in campaign contributions, which he claimed as business expenses. He also admitted to making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and to witness tampering, serving two years in federal prison.
“It’s one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was U.S. attorney,” former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who led the prosecution, said in a 2019 interview with PBS.
During his Senate confirmation hearing on May 1, Kushner addressed his past legal troubles.
“I think that my past mistakes actually make me… better in my values to really make me more qualified to do this job,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Trump has praised Kushner on social media as “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker,” noting his recognition as New Jersey Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and his leadership roles at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, NYU, and the US Holocaust Memorial Council.
In his testimony, Kushner pledged to strengthen US-France economic relations and encouraged France to increase defense spending aligned with US strategic interests.
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Kushner joins a list of prominent real estate and finance executives now occupying senior diplomatic and government roles.
Steve Witkoff, a luxury condo and hotel developer in NYC and Miami, now serves as Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East.
Tilman Fertitta, owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets and more than 600 properties worldwide, is currently the US ambassador to Italy.
Howard Lutnick, former Newmark CEO and chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, is now the secretary of commerce. Lutnick has since divested his interests in the brokerage, with Newmark agreeing to pay him $127 million for his 11 million shares.
Bill Pulte serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and is the grandson of homebuilder William Pulte.
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