What to know about Charles Kushner, the US diplomat summoned to Paris over Macron letter

Paris’ summoning of U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner, following his allegations that the country had not done enough to combat antisemitism, indicates its formal displeasure with the diplomat.

But Kushner — the father of Jared Kushner, son-in-law to President Donald Trump — did not respond to a summons Monday and sent his No. 2 instead, according to a French diplomatic official.

Charles Kushner was summoned after writing a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron alleging the country did not do enough to combat antisemitism. The foreign ministry called his allegations “unacceptable.”

French-U.S. relations have faced tensions this year amid Trump’s trade war and a split over the future of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon. France and the U.S. also have been divided on support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, but the split has eased with Trump expressing support for security guarantees and a warm meeting with Macron and other European leaders at the White House last week.

Here’s what to know about Charles Kushner and his summons:

He wrote a stern letter to Macron

In the letter released late Sunday, Kushner wrote that “public statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence and endanger Jewish life in France.”

He urged Macron “to act decisively: enforce hate-crime laws without exception, ensure the safety of Jewish schools, synagogues and businesses … and abandon steps that give legitimacy to Hamas and its allies.”

In response, the French ministry said Kushner’s allegations violate international law and the obligation not to interfere with the internal affairs of another country.

The diplomatic dustup follows Macron’s rejection this past week of accusations from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that France’s intention to recognize a Palestinian state is fueling antisemitism.

France is home to the largest Jewish population in Europe; its estimated 500,000 Jews is the third-largest Jewish population in the world after Israel and the U.S., as well as approximately 1% of the national population.

The French official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with foreign ministry policy, said the U.S. chargé d’affaires who appeared in Kushner’s place Monday was told that the letter “was unacceptable,” constituted interference in France’s internal affairs and ignored the government’s efforts on combating antisemitism.

The White House referred comment to the State Department, whose deputy spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, said Sunday that it stood by Kushner’s comments.

He’s been ambassador to France since May

When he announced his intention to nominate Kushner in November, Trump called him “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker.”

In May, the Senate confirmed Kushner’s appointment 51-45. During hearings, he told senators that he is a child of Holocaust survivors who came to the United States after World War II, and his grandmothers and other members of his family were executed by Nazis.

As Trump has rattled traditionally solid relationships with European allies, Kushner said he appreciates the history between the two countries and is “dedicated to building an even stronger relationship.”

Trump pardoned him in 2020

As he prepared to leave office following his first term in December 2020, Trump pardoned Kushner, following a years-earlier guilty plea to charges of tax evasion and witness tampering.

Prosecutors alleged that Kushner had hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation after discovering his brother-in-law was cooperating with federal authorities in an investigation, hiring a prostitute and arranging to have the encounter recorded with a hidden camera and sent to his own sister, the man’s wife.

After pleading guilty to 18 counts, Kushner was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison. It was the highest sentence he could receive under a plea deal, but less than that sought by Chris Christie, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey at the time and later governor and Republican presidential candidate.

Christie, who called it “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” he ever prosecuted as U.S. attorney, has blamed Jared Kushner for his firing from Trump’s 2016 transition team. In 2018, Charles Kushner told The New York Times that he wasn’t interested in clemency, saying he “would prefer not to have a pardon” because it would garner publicity.

He’s Jared Kushner’s father

Kushner founded Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, Jared Kushner was a senior adviser in Trump’s first White House, working on a wide range of issues and policies, including Middle East peace efforts.

Inspired by his father’s time in prison, Jared Kushner pushed Trump to back criminal justice reform legislation and was an integral part of the first Trump administration’s clemency efforts.

In his early 20s and a law and business school student in the mid-2000s when his father was sentenced, Jared Kushner suddenly found himself having to run the family’s businesses while shuttling back and forth on weekends to see his father in Alabama.

“When you’re on the other side of the system, you feel so helpless,” Jared Kushner said in 2018. “I felt like, I was on this side of the system, so how can I try to do whatever I can do to try to be helpful to the people who are going through it” and deserve a second chance.

Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles, and their children were married in 2009.

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Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP