France was rocked in mid-February by the beating death of 23‑year‑old Quentin Deranque during clashes between far‑right and far‑left activists in Lyon. The incident quickly became a political lightning rod for the far right. A statement by the US State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau – reposted by the US embassy in Paris – suggested that “violent radical leftism is on the rise” and warned of threats to public safety.
France denounced the message, then summoned the ambassador.
Kushner did not comply. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot later described his refusal to appear as a breach of diplomatic protocol and a “surprise”, warning that it would affect Kushner’s ability to carry out his mission in France.
Read moreHow the death of far-right activist Quentin Deranque became France’s ‘Charlie Kirk moment’
Barrot said it was unacceptable for foreign countries to “interfere [or] invite themselves into the national political debate, no matter the circumstances”.
Paris then restricted his access to government officials – a rare public rebuke of a top US diplomat – until Kushner agreed to meet with the minister personally.
The two men spoke over the phone on Tuesday, with the US Embassy hailing a "frank and amicable call". A source close to Barrot said that Kushner had pledged not to interfere in France's public debates.
The incident is just the latest on Kushner’s unconventional path to the world of diplomacy. His appointment as US ambassador to France in 2025 raised eyebrows from the start.
Professor Mario Del Pero, an expert on US political networks at Sciences Po university in Paris, called Kushner a “very controversial figure” and said his nomination was a symbol of "classic crony capitalism": a high‑level position “awarded on the basis of loyalty and family ties rather than experience”.
Two years in prison
Pardoned by US President Donald Trump in 2020 after a 2005 conviction involving tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions and witness-tampering, Kushner had no prior political or diplomatic experience.
“The pardon was the only way he could be considered for an ambassadorship,” Del Pero adds.
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1954, Kushner is the son of Jewish immigrants who survived the Holocaust. His father, Joseph Kushner, built a modest real estate business that Charles later expanded into a major empire.
Charles founded Kushner Companies in 1985, a private real estate firm headquartered in New Jersey and New York that grew from a family portfolio of roughly 4,000 apartments into a complex empire of residential units, commercial towers and rental properties across the Northeast.
In New York‑area real estate, political connections are part of the game. Kushner was active in Democratic fundraising before increasingly aligning with those in Trump’s orbit.
Kushner’s most consequential political connection remains his son Jared, whose rise in Washington was facilitated by his father’s networks. After marrying Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka in 2009, Jared became a key White House adviser when the billionaire came to power, navigating a turbulent first year marked by clashes with Steve Bannon over policy and influence.
Pierre Mourier, a researcher who studies political and economic networks in the United States, also described Kushner’s appointment to Paris as part of a “broader system of crony capitalism”.
Kushner, he said, is a “quintessential real-estate tycoon” with deep financial and political connections.
Read moreToo many cooks? Trump’s growing army of Ukraine negotiators
“His career demonstrates a pattern seen repeatedly in the Trump era: positions of prestige and political appointments [used] as rewards for loyalty and transactional networks often involving family members or close associates," Mourrier said.
Jared Kushner went on to take over portfolios including Middle East peace efforts, criminal justice reform and the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements that sought to normalise diplomatic relations between Israel and a number of Muslim-majority states.
After leaving government, he founded Affinity Partners, a private equity firm backed almost entirely by Gulf sovereign wealth funds that illustrates the global reach of the Kushner network and the transactional approach that has characterised both father and son.
“Bannon is no longer around and Jared has managed to bring his father back into the equation,” Mourier observed.
The WSJ incident
Del Pero says that Kushner likely had backing from Washington to ignore France’s summons, saying it was “hard to imagine Charles Kushner decided on his own” to ignore the foreign ministry.
He noted that Kushner’s 2025 open letter to President Emmanuel Macron in the Wall Street Journal, in which he accused France of a “lack of sufficient action” on anti-Semitism, probably also had Washington’s approval.
Such an act would have been “impossible without the approval of the White House”, he said.
This latest diplomatic row is taking place against the larger political context of current Franco‑American relations, in which both sides may have something to gain from heightening tensions.
Read moreDigital sovereignty (1/3): Have Trump’s threats spurred a European awakening?
“Look at the polls – Trump is incredibly unpopular in Europe,” Del Pero said, particularly following high‑profile disputes such as what he called the “Greenland episode”.
“For leaders like Macron or [German Chancellor Friedrich] Merz, clashing publicly with Washington, or with figures closely associated with Trump, can carry political benefit at home,” he said.
There are also benefits to be had on the other side of the Atlantic. There is a strong sense of “Europhobia” within the MAGA base, Del Pero said, which may feel a renewed sense of unity when attacked by European entities – even allies.
But the solidarity in the Trump camp may be fleeting, even illusory, according to Del Pero.
“The MAGA base is kept together by Trump; remove him, it explodes,” he said.
English (US) · 