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Jared Kushner’s Diplomacy Grift

Trump’s son-in-law is helping conduct U.S. diplomacy over war and peace while Senate investigators said his company collected $150 million in fees from foreign investors.

The Intellectualist Oct 5 ∙ Guest post

Brian Daitzman is the Editor of The Intellectualist. Subscribe to his Substack.

Jared Kushner is helping conduct negotiations involving Gaza, Iran, Russia and Ukraine while continuing to run an investment firm financed overwhelmingly by foreign capital.

White House records show that in September he and Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow and Kyiv to meet Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of an effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Compilation of Presidential Documents has repeatedly identified Kushner as the “U.S. Special Envoy for Peace.” SEC filings identify him as chief executive of Affinity’s investment manager and controlling owner of entities that oversee its funds. PBS NewsHour reported that Kushner founded Affinity Partners after leaving the first Trump administration.

PBS reported in April, citing a regulatory filing, that Affinity had more than $6.1 billion in assets and that about 99 percent belonged to non-U.S. investors, with most tied to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

In 2024, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said Affinity had reported that its foreign capital came primarily from the sovereign wealth funds of those three countries.

Those financial relationships involve countries that also figure prominently in Kushner’s diplomacy. CBS News reported that Qatar was directly involved in negotiations leading to the 2025 Gaza ceasefire.

Emirates News Agency, the UAE’s state news service, reported that Kushner and Witkoff met the country’s national security adviser in October 2025 to discuss the cease-fire and American efforts to consolidate it...

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Why Japan’s Currency Crisis Could Signal a Global Debt Reckoning

Japan’s currency and debt stress could raise U.S. mortgage rates and force investors to sell assets across global markets, potentially setting off a wider financial crisis.

The Intellectualist Aug 10 ∙ Preview ∙ Guest post

Brian Daitzman is the Editor of The Intellectualist Subscribe to his Substack

Japan’s currency problem is not yet a sovereign-debt crisis. But on July 31, the United States joined Japan in buying yen, the first coordinated American-Japanese effort to support the currency in nearly 30 years.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reportedly sold euros and bought yen on behalf of the Treasury after the currency had fallen to its weakest level against the dollar since 1986. The yen had traded above 163 to the dollar before strengthening sharply following the intervention.

Japan’s finance minister said the operation was intended to counter excessive volatility and disorderly movements. The more consequential question is what Japan might otherwise have to do if the currency keeps falling.

The Bank of Japan could raise interest rates more aggressively. Japanese banks, insurers and pension funds could redirect money toward assets at home. Investors who borrowed cheaply in yen to buy stocks and bonds elsewhere could be forced to unwind those positions.

Each route offers a way for pressure that begins in Japan to move abroad.

What Is the Yen Carry Trade, and Why Does It Matter?

The yen carry trade is a strategy in which investors borrow money at low interest rates in Japan and use it to buy investments that may earn more elsewhere.

The potential profit comes from the difference between the low cost of the loan and the higher return on the investment.

The strategy works only while three things remain true:

1. Borrowing in Japan stays inexpensive.

2. The investments continue to earn money.

3. The yen does not rise sharply against currencies such as the dollar.

If the yen rises, investors must spend more dollars or other currencies to obtain the yen needed to repay their loans. A trade that once made money can quickly produce losses.

Investors may then reverse the strategy by selling stocks, bonds or other investments, converting the money back into yen and repaying their loans.

If many investors do this at once, the selling can push prices lower, create further losses and force still more selling.

That is why the yen carry trade matters beyond Japan. A sharp rise in the yen can spread financial stress through markets around the world, including markets with little direct connection to Japan.

Japan is caught in a difficult policy trap. Its interest rates have remained well below those in the United States, encouraging investors to seek higher returns in foreign assets, many denominated in dollars. Those flows can weaken the yen. A weaker currency, in turn, raises the local cost of imported oil, food and industrial materials, intensifying pressure on households, businesses and the central bank.

Higher Japanese rates could support the yen. But they would also reduce the market value of older bonds, increase the cost of refinancing government debt over time and make Japanese investments more attractive relative to foreign ones.

Currency intervention can postpone that choice. It cannot eliminate it...

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The U.S. Controls $13 Billion in Venezuelan Oil Money. Where Did It Go?

Following the invasion, we don't know how much money reached Venezuela, where it was spent or how much remains.

The Intellectualist Aug 2 ∙ Preview ∙ Guest post

Brian Daitzman is the Editor of The Intellectualist. Subscribe to his Substack.

The Financial Times estimates that Venezuelan oil sales have generated more than $13 billion in revenue this year. The Energy Department has separately said that proceeds from those sales first settle in accounts controlled by the United States. But the White House and Energy Department records reviewed for this article, together with a State Department response reported by the Financial Times, do not provide a transaction-level reconciliation of transfers to Venezuela, authorized disbursements, expenses or remaining account balances.

The $13 billion figure is an estimate, not an audited government balance. The Financial Times calculated it using Venezuelan crude-shipment data from Kpler, a freight and analytics company, and price estimates from Argus Media. The newspaper said shipments with direct price estimates were worth about $11.5 billion and that historical price patterns brought the total above $13 billion.

The estimate excludes mining exports that American officials said were also being collected by the administration, according to the Financial Times. The calculation may therefore not capture all Venezuelan resource revenue entering arrangements controlled by the United States.

The accounting question has become more urgent since two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24. The Associated Press reported that the death toll had reached 5,069 by July 18. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction produced a preliminary estimate of $37 billion in direct physical damage, including about $24 billion in damage to buildings and $13 billion in damage to infrastructure.

John Barrett, the United States chargé d’affaires in Caracas, said money from the oil-revenue accounts was being made available for reconstruction, according to the Financial Times. He did not specify how much. The newspaper separately reported that the United States had made $386 million available for disaster relief, without identifying that assistance as part of the oil-account disbursements.

The Energy Department said the United States began marketing Venezuelan oil after President Nicolás Maduro was apprehended in January. Delcy Rodríguez subsequently became Venezuela’s acting president, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Energy Department also said the administration selectively eased sanctions and authorized channels through which Venezuelan crude could return to international markets.

American officials told the Financial Times that control of the oil accounts was being used in part as leverage over Rodríguez’s government...

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