UPDATE: CARNEY/TRUMP LOVE-IN LOOKS DIRTY AS HELL

Follow the money, the real estate and the deceptions

EDITORIAL NOTE: Since we published, political trolls on social media and here have tried to discredit this story with the talking point that Carney was not at Brookfield when this deal was made. We say that in CAPS in the story below but as with all propaganda — the lie is in the twist. I’ve shortened it to fit the SS format better and fixed some typos and done a minor reedit for clarity.

It is complex and I’m giving these short points up front so there is no confusion and also to be fair to all concerned.

• Brookfield brokered a deal with a sitting presidents’s son that includes money from country that is in play diplomatically in the Middle East.

• That deal has been massively controversial for Trump and Kushner given that Kushner was running ME foreign policy for his father-in-law so receiving a billion-dollar bail out from a country in that portfolio is not a good look.

• To learn more — don’t Google Carney and Kushner, Google Qatar and Kushner, there are dozens of stories and some investigations about this iffy deal.

• How does Carney fit in if he came later?

• Later is when all of the questions began being raised. A US Finance Committee looked into it and other bad press happened WHILE CARNEY WAS AT BROOKFIELD. The letter from the FC went to the Toronto office begging for information and decrying the fact Brookfield seemed to be stonewalling. Again, Carney was there for that and would be negligent to not have read the file to understand what his company was involved in.

• The point is Carney would likely know all about what happened.

• Here’s where we are now. Two men — one of them president, whose family owes Brookfield a huge debt of gratitude is oddly praising a foreign leader, Carney whose been threatening him. Carney who WAS around when the Kushner deal was exposed as a Qatari venture, (in part) would have seen things in those files that could hurt the president’s family and perhaps even Brookfield — if made public.

• Leverage against each other is still a conflict-of-interest. It means we can’t be confident of interactions between Trump and Carney that are strictly in the interests of this country.

• Simply - would Trump help Carney win to keep him happy? How will Carney deal with what he knows about the Trump family?

• You’ll note some people say “not Qatari money” because Apollo invested except Apollo is Qatari money.

  I hope this helps. ….off to pack for Ottawa.

Here is some Newsweek reporting from the time Carney was at Brookfield - THE STORY WAS GETTING A LOT OF ATTENTION.

A biographer who covered Jared Kushner's real estate company compared his past financial woes to a "ticking time bomb" in relation to his alleged dealing with Qatari interests.

The Kushner Company, a family business for which former President Donald Trump's son-in-law now serves as president, was facing a $1.4 billion debt payment in 2017 for a property at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Around that time, Kushner—then working as a senior advisor to Trump with a focus on Middle Eastern matters—visited Qatar to discuss a blockade imposed against the country, alongside Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Following the year, the Qatar blockade was lifted, with President Trump reversing his earlier support of his arrangement. Around the same time, according to The Real Deal, Brookfield Asset Management, paid $1.28 billion for a ground-floor lease at 666 Fifth, helping the company with its debt situation. The group's second-largest stakeholder at the time was the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, leading some to accuse Kushner of trading favorable political maneuvers in order to help his family's business.

"If there were such a conflict of interest, if he did conduct foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly switching sides on that blockade of Qatar by the Saudis, basically to bail out his family business, that is a criminal offense. You know, the optics of all of this were always there. My book, Kushner, Inc., does, as you say, show Kushner's financial problems as this ticking time bomb."

…

For its part, Brookfield Asset Management denied that any Qatari representatives were involved in the 666 Fifth Avenue deal. Ric Clark, chairman of the group at the time of the deal, explicitly claimed that there was no "quid pro quo."

FROM MARCH 29, 2025

If you’re like me you are scratching your head trying decode exactly what is Donald Trump’s play with Mark Carney? None of it makes any sense. We’ve gone from Carney’ reckless we’re done with America speech to a digital snog between the two men evoking an 80’s romcom, just 24 hours later.

Carney represents everything Trump claims to hate. He’s progressive, net-zero obsessed, effete and a globalist.

For all his good points, Trump hates being publicly embarrassed and is known for his brutal and sometimes comical retaliations. Yet Carney pokes away with hardly a jab. Hmmmm.

Trump has even suggested he would prefer a Liberal government and his tariff move, which was certainly a retaliation against Trudeau — will be historically tagged for putting the failing Liberals back in office if they win. What the hell is going on here?

Andy Lee on X, the Francophone, Le Journal de Montréal as well as an old Financial Times piece have some reporting that could explain a lot and it ain’t pretty. Of course its about money and real estate. I found a US Senate Finance document that exposes more contradictions.

The gist is that Brookfield, Carney’s now former company — bailed out Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to the tune of 1B. in an odd-looking deal even the Financial Times struggles to figure out. And that would lead to conflict-of-interest allegations later.

This is not my reportorial bailiwick so I’ll give the broad outlines and the paywalled articles and translation for you to examine.

One thing we do know is that Trump 1.0 was criticized for including Kushner to the detriment of his administration first time around. Although Jared is keeping a low profile this time, surely his father-in-law remembers well the company that kept his daughter, husband and kids from catastrophe. That would be Brookfield. The opportunities for a compromised relationship between Carney and Trump are endless. Read the following and then I’ll reveal how it gets worse. And yes it does. Bear in mind Carney’s finanacial security is likely largely based on his Brookfield options.

From the FT:

On a busy stretch of Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue a few blocks south of Trump Tower, a decaying skyscraper stands as a rebuke to the US$1.8 billion deal that Jared Kushner helped his family sign a decade ago, at the age of 26. It was the most expensive New York office purchase in history, and for a time it looked likely to sink the Kushners’ business. Steve Roth, the billionaire who co-owned 666 Fifth Avenue, lamented it would “be worth a lot more if it was just dirt.”

“By 2016, Kushner was searching for a way out. Destined for a top job in his father-in-law’s White House the following year, he found plenty of people to talk to, but no one who was buying.

Then, with months to go before US$1.2 billion of mortgage payments fell due in February 2019, the Kushners won a reprieve — one that looked nothing like a favour from a foreign state. It was an investment from financial group Brookfield, which leased the building whole, paying nearly a century of rent in advance.

Take note that Trump is in office when this deal comes through. Also, Kushner has a role advising and maneuvering on foreign policy - the Middle East in particular.

From LJDM

The Canadian (Brookfield) company paid the 99 years of rent all at once rather than annually. This highly unusual move ensured a massive and rapid cash inflow for the Kushner company, which was due to repay US$1.2 billion in mortgage payments just a few months later, in February 2019.

Who stood to gain from Kushner getting a bailout?

Yes, you read that right. Brookfield paid nearly a century of rent in advance — to the son-in-law of a sitting president — now president again. No wonder we are discouraged from following the money.

I found this document/element of the story today. There have been reports of Qatari involvement. You will find questions throughout the early reporting. Remember, Carney was NOT at Brookfield when the deal was struck. He WAS there, when in 2022, a US Senate Finance Committee investigation focussed on evidence that the funds HAD come from Qatar. The committee was exploring Kushner’s relationship to Qatar, the country that through Brookfield had bailed him out. From the committee’s report:

What it suggests is that the relationship between president Trump and our prime minister has not been clean, at least on the surface. This should have been declared. Ask yourself, which one has the biggest pile of dirt on the other over how this deal came down?

It also begs the question and its only a question: was Brookfield complicit in fronting for Qatari money to the benefit of the Trump/Kushner family - to hide potential and real conflicts?

The trust is secret but it’s likely Carney, who still has Brookfield options in a blind trust at a strike price of 37.00 is not prevented from profiting if the shares go up. And losing if the shares go down.

Carney has a financial interest in the success of the Kushner transaction and the moving pieces that attend it even though it was finalized before his arrival at Brookfield. How much Middle Eastern money moves through Brookfield’s endeavours? What does Trump know about the inner workings of this deal? Does he have leverage against our prime minister?

This story requires a full team of reporters to answer the obvious questions. But given the history, are Carney and Trump are conflicted? Does this explain the odd dance between the two?

Please add what you might know.

Stay critical.