Former White House official 'aghast' at Trump advisors’ 'total malpractice'

Jared Kushner with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Kyiv, Ukraine September 6, 2026. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Two of U.S. President Donald Trump's close allies, special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, have been key players in negotiations with Iran during a war that has lasted for six and one-half months. But a former White House official, according to The New Yorker, is highly critical off their performance, saying they are committing "total malpractice."

In The New Yorker, reporter Derek Filkins explains, "In the waning hours before the U.S. went to war with Iran, this February, Jared Kushner held a meeting with Iranian negotiators in Geneva — one last chance to avoid a conflict that would plunge the region into chaos and shock the world economy. Afterward, Kushner dismissed his counterparts as unworthy of his time. 'Lots of tricks,' he told reporters. 'They're basically playing games with us all over the place, and it's very, very slippery.'"

Filkins continues, "Kushner, the boyish-looking son-in-law of Donald Trump, has been given an extraordinary brief in recent years. Along with Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoy, he has been charged with ending wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and just about anywhere else they might break out. Kushner, who is 45, has little regard for the craft of diplomacy."

According to New Yorker sources, Kushner and Witkoff dropped the ball badly when it came to negotiations with Iran.

Filkins reports, "A former diplomat briefed on the talks with Iran told me that, when the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, began offering concessions, the two Americans failed to grasp precisely what was on the table. They sought advice from Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, but Grossi was attending the talks as a neutral party. A former White House official who worked on the Iranian nuclear issue was aghast at the lack of preparation: 'The Iranians come to you with a proposal. What does it actually mean? How much does it actually set them back — two months or two years? What are the work-arounds? For them not to have technical advisers there is just total malpractice."

Filkins reports that at another press conference, Kushner "argued that the Iranians were merely stalling."

According to the reporter, "'They were just trying to buy time in order to preserve whatever they could, to get past the term of President Trump,' he said. Another former White House official I spoke to largely shared that assessment. 'It was the same old game,' he said. 'The Iranian position is: We get a s–– ton of sanctions relief, and we do nothing to dismantle our nuclear infrastructure.' But some experts who followed the talks thought that Araghchi’s proposals were made in earnest. Among other things, the Iranians were offering to suspend nuclear enrichment entirely, which they had not done before, and to dilute the enriched uranium that they still retained."

Virginia Canter, a former White House counsel, is also highly critical of Kushner's handling of Iran negotiations.

Canter told The New Yorker, "Kushner is plagued with conflicts of interest. He is supposed to be working for the American people, but in fact, he has tremendous financial incentives to further the interests of his investors."

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