When US President Donald Trump needed somebody to fulfill Russian President Vladimir Putin final week to open negotiations for a possible deal to finish the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he did not dispatch his secretary of state.
The person he despatched to the Kremlin to deal with a titanic geopolitical problem doesn’t actually have a diplomatic background.
As an alternative Trump picked his private pal, golf buddy and billionaire actual property developer Steve Witkoff.
The president has made Witkoff his Center East envoy. However final week the Bronx-born businessman discovered himself in discussions about ending a battle in Jap Europe – having been “with [Putin] for a really prolonged interval, like about three hours”, in Trump’s phrases.
Witkoff was in Moscow to assist facilitate a deal that noticed the US and Russia swap prisoners, which was seen as signalling a doable thaw in relations between the 2 nations.
Witkoff additionally performed an element in brokering the present ceasefire settlement between Israel and Hamas, for which each Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden took credit score.
Although he was not but formally in his submit, Witkoff flew to Tel Aviv to fulfill Netanyahu earlier than the deal was brokered in Qatar. He then frolicked with Biden’s envoy Brett McGurk in Doha, who later praised their cooperation, calling it a “very shut partnership, even friendship”, based on the Washington Publish.
Witkoff is now returning to the area, particularly Saudi Arabia, for the primary US-Russian face-to-face talks over the conflict in Ukraine after Trump had his personal name with Putin. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz are additionally attending.
However the daring strikes made by Trump’s crew are stirring concern amongst Western allies, who worry a brand new world order wherein key gamers are shut out of discussions. Ukraine and different European nations weren’t invited to the Saudi assembly.
So, who’s Witkoff – dubbed by US media as “the person within the room”, taking centre stage as extra probably consequential worldwide talks happen?
He was considered one of Trump’s first picks for his prime crew after his presidential election win in November. Trump wrote: “Steve will probably be an unrelenting voice for PEACE, and make us all proud.”
“The president sees Steve as one of many world’s nice dealmakers,” a White Home official informed Axios. Witkoff’s most well-liked negotiating tactic was to make use of allure, based on one other affiliate, however he may additionally flip up the stress.
The 67-year-old was raised in Lengthy Island, New York and skilled as an actual property developer in considered one of America’s most cut-throat markets.
As a long-time Republican donor, he has recognized Trump for many years, and, just like the president, made his fortune in actual property in each New York and Florida.
Addressing final 12 months’s Republican Nationwide Conference, throughout which he recalled chatting with Trump within the aftermath of an assassination try, Witkoff referred to as the opposite man his “true and pricey pal… in good instances and unhealthy instances”.
The 2 males are additionally long-time {golfing} companions, US Senator Lindsey Graham informed NBC Information. “Steve and I’d be the 2 guys who would play Trump and anyone else, and lose,” Graham stated.
It was throughout a shared {golfing} session in Florida final September that one other alleged would-be Trump attacker was foiled by the Secret Service. Trump stated he and Witkoff had been bundled into golf carts as brokers moved to counter a suspect within the bushes.
Graham additionally stated that Witkoff first talked about his curiosity in changing into Center East envoy to Trump throughout a lunchtime dialog. “That shocked me, as a result of I did not know he was within the Mideast,” Graham stated.
Witkoff’s remit as Center East envoy can also be reported to incorporate diplomacy with Iran. Individuals conversant in the matter informed the Monetary Occasions he had been chosen to spearhead a nuclear cope with Tehran as a part of a broader plan to “cease the wars” within the area.
Witkoff’s deal-making abilities had been on show throughout Trump’s 2024 marketing campaign. He helped to ease rigidity between Trump and his defeated Republican presidential major rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Witkoff additionally reportedly met Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to easy issues over, after Kemp drew Trump’s scorn for refusing to help his unfounded claims of fraud within the 2020 election which Trump misplaced to Biden.
He at present serves as chairman of the College of Miami’s enterprise faculty actual property advisory board, and was appointed by Trump throughout his first time period to the board of trustees of the John F Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts.
