meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Trump, Inc.

Son-in-Law Inc: The (Other) Secretive Real Estate Scion in the White House

Trump, Inc.

WNYC Studios

Don, Trump, News, Business, Jared, Ivanka, Jr, Politics, Business News, Government, Eric

4.65.7K Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2018

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We’ve seen headline after head-spinning headline about Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump. We’ve heard that his company has been on a global search for cash, that it got giant loans from two big financial institutions after Kushner met with officials from those companies at the White House, and that countries believed they could manipulate Kushner through his “complex” business arrangements. Like his father-in-law, Kushner has not fully divested from his family’s business, Kushner Companies. His disclosure forms show he owns at least $761 million in assets. Meanwhile, the company owes hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that comes due in less than a year.  All of this while Kushner Companies has worked very hard to keep some of its partners a secret. It gets back to a familiar question: How can we know whether Kushner is operating in the interests of the country or his company? A spokeswoman for the Kushner Companies said in an email that it “is financially very strong” and that “Jared Kushner is not in any way involved in the management of the business.” Peter Mirijanian, spokesman for Jared Kushner’s attorney, said in a statement Kushner’s meetings are “to hear ideas about improving the American economy” and that he “has followed the ethics advice he has received for all of his work which include the separation from his business and recusals when appropriate.” Joining us on this episode are David Kocieniewski and Caleb Melby of Bloomberg, who’ve broken a series of stories about the Kushner Companies' financial stress. They take WNYC and ProPublica on a tour of some of the real estate company's marquee properties. Then we take a different kind of tour with ProPublica’s Alec MacGillis. For the past year, he's been tracking the travails of tenants living in apartment complexes in Baltimore owned by Kushner Companies -- and the extent to which the real estate company has gone to keep its partners secret.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Not too long ago I decided to take a tour of some high-end properties in Midtown, Manhattan.

0:09.0

We're at the former New York Times building at 229 West 43rd Street here in New York's

0:14.2

Times Square.

0:15.8

Specifically we're standing in front of an empty storefront.

0:19.5

This is one that was supposed to house a food hall branded for Todd English, the celebrity

0:24.4

chef.

0:25.4

It's scheduled to open in April, but as you can see the windows are papered over and

0:30.0

if you take a peek over the paper there's nothing going on there right now.

0:34.7

I'm here with two journalists who've been digging up an astonishing series of stories

0:38.3

on President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his family businesses global

0:42.7

search for cash.

0:44.5

I'm David Kushner, Fscape from Bloomberg News.

0:47.4

I cover the Kushners.

0:49.4

Is that all you cover?

0:50.9

No.

0:51.9

Hang on, can we start over?

0:53.9

I'm a little pre-caffeinated.

0:54.9

I'm nervous.

0:55.9

I'm David Kushner, Fscape from Bloomberg News.

0:58.9

I cover financial shenanigans and I'm running about the Kushners.

1:04.9

I'm actually on the financial enforcement team.

1:07.3

I'm Caleb Melby.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.