Marketing materials for a Jersey City project that’s being co-developed by Jared Kushner’s uncle Murray used images of President Trump and his son-in-law to woo EB-5 investors in China. The incident sparked the latest flare-up in the Kushner family feud.
According to Bloomberg, a presentation created for KRE Group, lead by Murray Kushner and Jonathan Kushner, included images of President Trump, Jared and his wife, Ivanka Trump, during a pitch earlier this month to investors in China for his company’s planned apartment tower at 235 Grand Street in Jersey City.
“Work hand-in-hand with Trump son-in-law Kushner,” read the project’s materials.
Neither Jared nor the Trumps are involved in the project, which KRE is co-developing with Hoboken-based Ironstate Development. Ironstate’s Dave Barry told Bloomberg the mention was unintentional and the project pitch was the responsibility of the Beijing-based marketing company Noah Visa, which created the promotional materials.
Barry said the developers worked with the consultant New York Immigration Fund, a company Ironstate has worked with in the past, which subcontracted the work to Noah Visa.
The New York Immigration Fund did not immediately respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment, but Noah Visa manager Eric Yuan at first denied including Jared’s name or his photo in the promotional materials. But when Bloomberg pointed out that there was a paper trail online, Yuan pointed his finger at the media.
“The media did that to push hot topics; we didn’t do it,” he said. “Jared has nothing to do with the project.”
When Kushner Companies, the firm started by Jared’s father Charles, learned about the China presentation, it sent a cease-and-desist letter to KRE and its partners.
The controversy comes after Kushner Companies pulled out of a road show in China over similar claims that the company used Jared’s position at the White House to promote a Jersey City development. The hullabaloo reportedly damaged Kushner’s standing with his father-in-law, and he’s said to be considering returning to private life every six months.
Murray and Charles Kushner have been called the Cain and Abel of New Jersey due to their history of public feuding. [Bloomberg] – Rich Bockmann