Jared Kushner is publicly fighting a report that his investment firm profits from Israeli defense companies while he negotiates Middle East deals — bad news for an administration already facing conflict-of-interest questions.

• Kushner's firm, Affinity Partners, is the largest shareholder in Phoenix Financial, an Israeli firm with money in nine companies that supply Israel's military.
• Affinity raised billions from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE after Trump left office in 2021, and doubled its Phoenix stake days before Trump returned to the White House.
• Kushner calls the story misleading, says Phoenix is a regular financial firm like Vanguard, and notes the reporting found no sign his diplomacy shaped the investments.
• He describes himself as an unpaid volunteer in government, and defends his business ties as "experience and trusted relationships" rather than conflicts.
• A separate Kushner-and-Ivanka-backed resort project in Albania has sparked large street protests against the political elite there.

Outlook: Democrats in Congress are calling for an investigation, and Kushner says he will keep publicly rebutting stories about himself.