Through its own actions, CNN is working frightfully hard to justify Donald Trump’s controversial decision to bar it from the White House press pool.
CNN’s non-story was that Jared Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity, holds a position in a public company, Phoenix, that itself has some relatively minor Israeli defense holdings. CNN's then wrote a headline implying that Kushner’s work as a diplomat in the Middle East represented a serious conflict of interest, before hiding behind a paywall the admission that it had no source or evidence that suggested anything of the sort.
A serious journalism organization would quickly have discovered that Affinity’s defense exposure, through its holdings in Phoenix, is around one half of one percent of its portfolio. Kushner, meanwhile, has probably done more than anyone in the last twenty years to advance peace in the Middle East. If he continues to succeed in his objectives, it will be to the great chagrin of the defense sector.
CNN cannot continue to behave like a propaganda oraganization and then cry foul when it is treated accordingly.
Conrad Black
Phoenix is not a defense company. It is one of Israel’s largest publicly traded financial institutions, highly regulated and managing approximately $220 billion across thousands of investments.
Think of Phoenix as the Israeli equivalent of Vanguard or Fidelity. It manages the retirement savings of millions of Israelis. The savers don’t choose the individual investments, and neither do I. I have no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells. It has performed very well for Affinity and our investors, up more than five times since our initial investment.
Affinity is an SEC-registered investment firm. Our investment in Phoenix is public and dates to before President Trump was re-elected and before I returned to public service. Affinity does not own the defense companies highlighted in CNN’s story.
Those facts make for a less provocative headline, but a much more accurate story.
Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together and pursue peace. That work is too important.
CNN’s non-story was that Jared Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity, holds a position in a public company, Phoenix, that itself has some relatively minor Israeli defense holdings. CNN's then wrote a headline implying that Kushner’s work as a diplomat in the Middle East represented a serious conflict of interest, before hiding behind a paywall the admission that it had no source or evidence that suggested anything of the sort.
A serious journalism organization would quickly have discovered that Affinity’s defense exposure, through its holdings in Phoenix, is around one half of one percent of its portfolio. Kushner, meanwhile, has probably done more than anyone in the last twenty years to advance peace in the Middle East. If he continues to succeed in his objectives, it will be to the great chagrin of the defense sector.
CNN cannot continue to behave like a propaganda oraganization and then cry foul when it is treated accordingly.
Conrad Black
… Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed.”CNN published a deeply misleading story and headline suggesting that my diplomatic work in the Middle East somehow benefited investments in Israeli defense companies.
— Jared Kushner (@jaredkushner) October 2, 2026
But CNN’s own reporting says otherwise. Buried behind a paywall, it acknowledges: “CNN found no indication that… pic.twitter.com/iCowrE9N84
Phoenix is not a defense company. It is one of Israel’s largest publicly traded financial institutions, highly regulated and managing approximately $220 billion across thousands of investments.
Think of Phoenix as the Israeli equivalent of Vanguard or Fidelity. It manages the retirement savings of millions of Israelis. The savers don’t choose the individual investments, and neither do I. I have no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells. It has performed very well for Affinity and our investors, up more than five times since our initial investment.
Affinity is an SEC-registered investment firm. Our investment in Phoenix is public and dates to before President Trump was re-elected and before I returned to public service. Affinity does not own the defense companies highlighted in CNN’s story.
Those facts make for a less provocative headline, but a much more accurate story.
Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together and pursue peace. That work is too important.
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