Kushner Calls Book's Claim of $2 Billion in Gulf 'Slush Funds' and a Hacked Phone 'Insane'

Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, is fighting back against an explosive account of his Middle East dealings that alleges a hacked iPhone, foreign spies and more than $2 billion in undisclosed Gulf money. The allegations come from an upcoming book by journalist Matthew Cole, and Kushner has called them "completely insane."

The book is titled "Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed's Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East." An excerpt published Thursday in Vanity Fair covers Kushner's years as a senior White House adviser in Trump's first administration, when he led much of U.S. policy toward the Middle East. CBS News has not independently verified the excerpt.

According to the excerpt, Dutch intelligence learned in 2017 that Russian operatives had hacked Kushner's iPhone, after Dutch officials flipped a Russian spy. It says the Russians could see his screen as he used it, and that Dutch intelligence captured images of what he was looking at. The book alleges that Dutch spies watched Kushner log into an account in the United Arab Emirates that had received hundreds of millions of dollars from a bank in Azerbaijan.

The excerpt goes further. It alleges the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE put at least $2 billion into multiple accounts linked to Kushner, including one at Israel's Central Bank. It says the account owners and managers were often disguised as government entities or charities. The book describes the money as a pool for "off-the-books diplomatic objectives," such as ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and alleges Kushner had access to the funds to buy "influence within the U.S. government." Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman allegedly put roughly $1 billion into at least one account. The excerpt quotes a "person with knowledge of the money" who said its allocation "was for Kushner's personal benefit."

Kushner answered on X. "The allegations made by this author are completely insane and never happened," he wrote. He said Cole "provided not a single shred of verifiable evidence," noting there were no "bank statements, wire transfer records, account numbers." Kushner's attorney called the claims "false and defamatory" and said they intend to pursue legal action against those responsible, though the attorney did not name anyone.

The White House referred questions to Steven Cheung, an assistant to the president and the White House communications director. Cheung called the book "complete fiction" by a "failed spy thriller writer." He wrote on X that the author "presents no evidence or even a shred of documentation."

The dispute lands as Kushner remains an influential figure in Trump's diplomacy. He has taken part in high-stakes talks on the Middle East and Ukraine, and his business ties to Gulf investors have drawn scrutiny before. The new allegations rest largely on unnamed sources and on intelligence material the book says it reviewed, none of which has been made public.

The book is not yet on shelves. Until it is, and until anyone produces documents to back the account, the claims remain allegations that Kushner and the White House flatly reject.