Trump son-in-law Kushner chasing multi-million dollar deal with Chinese while advising president: report

Donald Trump’s son-in-law is currently in negotiations with a massive Chinese financial conglomerate to redevelop one of his family's "crown jewel" properties while at the same time he's advising the president-elect on foreign policy and setting up his administration, the New York Times is reporting.

In a deep dive into the finances of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner's family real estate empire, the Times reveals that Ivanka Trump's husband has been working on a multi-million dollar financial package with executives from the Anbang Insurance Group -- a few of whom have expressed an interest in meeting the president-elect.

According to the report, the Kushner family began negotiations with the Chinese financiers well before Trump was elected president, with talks centering on the Kushner family's property at 666 Fifth Avenue. The building is part of Kushner real estate empire that has made over $7 billion in acquisitions in the last decade, often using off-shore money.

While Trump's closeness to his businesses remains problematic, with the president-elect continuously delaying details on how he will establish a blind trust to avoid conflict of interest charges, Kushner's involvement with both the president and his own family's businesses presents a whole different set of problems.

The connection to Anbang is a perfect example of the murkiness in financial entanglements and the appearance of conflicts. Anbang is estimated to have assets worth over $285 billion and is  connected to not only the Chinese government but to ownership hidden through shell companies.

According to the report, Kushner needs to work out a deal quickly with Anbang on the 5th Ave. property that is mired in debt and has a $1.1 billion loan due in 2019 -- while much of the commercial space in the building remains occupied.

While Anbang has been successful in scooping up U.S. properties and businesses, it has run into difficulties on some purchases due to a property's proximity to military bases, as well as an unwillingness to divulge information about its financial structure or who exactly is a shareholder in the company.

You can read the whole report here.