President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday swore in Charles Kushner as the U.S. ambassador to France.
Kushner, a real estate executive, longtime Jewish philanthropist and father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, was confirmed in May on a mostly party-line vote, with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) the only Democrat to support the confirmation.
In Kushner’s testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he told senators about his parents having immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus, where most of their family died in the Holocaust.
“My parents loved and appreciated our great country, the land of opportunity, just as I do,” Kushner said.
In 2020, Trump pardoned Kushner, after the latter served two years in a federal prison for tax evasion and for retaliating against a federal witness. In November, Trump described Kushner as “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist and dealmaker.”
During Kushner’s Oval Office swearing-in, he was joined by his children and grandchildren, including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump — a rare White House appearance for the couple, who opted not to take on any official roles in Trump’s second term. Jared Kushner was a top Middle East advisor to Trump in his first term, and his swearing-in came as Trump is considering whether the U.S. should attack Iran’s nuclear program.