A new book reveals details about Jared Kushner and the Abraham Accords

The Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 15, 2020. Photo by Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

By Jacob Kornbluh
September 15, 2022

Jared Kushner, the former White House senior advisor and architect of the Abraham Accords, committed to personally cover any potential costs of the White House signing ceremony for the deal after facing resistance from first lady Melania Trump, according to a new tell-all book about the Trump administration.

The ceremony was slated for the South Lawn, but the first lady’s office controls the use of the White House grounds and Melania Trump “was worried about the grass,” journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, a Washington, D.C. power couple, write in their forthcoming memoir, titled “The Divider.” The Forward obtained an advance copy of the book, which is set to be published on Tuesday.

The lawn had just been resodded in August, after Trump supporters tromped on it as they watched the president deliver his nomination address to the 2020 Republican National Convention.

“Kushner and his team were dumbfounded,” Baker, chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, and Glasser, a staff writer for The New Yorker, write in a book that includes accounts of several exclusive behind-the-scenes episodes during the Trump administration. “After all the delicate bargaining to bring Israelis and Arabs together, resolving part of the world’s greatest geopolitical turf battle, the final obstacle to their day of celebration would be the actual turf?” they write of the historic normalization deal between Israel and several Arab countries.

After considering other alternatives that were ruled out due to COVID-19 restrictions and security concerns, Kushner appealed to his father-in-law, the president, who agreed the South Lawn was the best option. But the first lady’s office “refused to bend” because they said it would cost too much to resod again if the crowd — estimated at about 700 guests — tore it up.

“How much?” Kushner reportedly asked about the cost of resodding. About $80,000, the office responded. “No problem,” Kushner said. “It’s on me.”

Kushner, whose net worth was estimated at about $800 million in 2019, said he would “personally write a check to cover any expense if the grass was damaged,” Baker and Glasser write. The event eventually took place on Sept. 15, 2020, on the South Lawn. “When the trumpets stopped playing and the documents were all signed, the grass turned out to be just fine. Kushner could keep his check,” they write.

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem

The book details how normalization deals were made possible thanks to personal relationships Kushner forged with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and then-crown prince and de facto leader of the United Arab Emirates Mohammad bin Zayed. The two met with Kushner in 2016 at the suggestion of Tom Barrack, a Lebanese American investor who is now under indictment for illegal foreign lobbying.

Even some Republicans were disturbed by the degree to which non-government officials could…