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President Donald Trump’s economic aides have resembled a team of rivals at times, but his foreign policy advisers are more like planets in orbit — with Steve Witkoff closest to the sun.
The real estate developer’s official title is special envoy for peace missions, growing a portfolio that initially reached only to the Middle East. He was an unusual choice, bringing far more experience in corporate boardrooms than in formal diplomacy. But Witkoff has a superpower that even his skeptics see as critical: connection to Trump.
“Witkoff is like [Trump’s] best friend,” Robert O’Brien, the president’s former national security adviser, told Semafor. “No one in a foreign ministry or royal palace or presidential administration or prime minister’s office is thinking, ‘Is this guy speaking for the president or can he get a hold of Trump?’ When he says he is speaking for Trump, people know he’s speaking for Trump.”
That clout helped Witkoff, along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, clinch this year’s fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. In the early months of Trump’s second term, one State Department official even remarked that some inside the department viewed Witkoff as having more sway over US foreign policy than Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
But the special envoy has sparked some controversy along the way, most recently with his involvement in a draft proposal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine that was criticized for favoring Moscow.
European officials, and Russia hawks on Capitol Hill, would prefer to see Rubio (and only Rubio) take control of the still-ongoing talks to end Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Some of them, like Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, have said so openly.
Those looking for palpable friction on Trump’s foreign policy team, however, will likely stay disappointed. People who know both Witkoff and Rubio insist they are real friends in an administration that’s no stranger to infighting.
“They have a genuinely good relationship; they talk a lot,” said a senior Trump administration official, who dismissed initial talk of Witkoff eclipsing Rubio as “griping … from people who wish they were closer to the Oval Office” and who were uncertain on their own roles early on.
Rubio, in a statement to Semafor, said “it’s a privilege to call Steve a colleague and a friend,” characterizing him as “the kind of innovative thinker our government needs; and our country is better off because of his willingness to serve.”
Witkoff’s centrality to talks to end the war in Ukraine stems in large part from his longtime relationship with Trump — one “that was formed on the golf course,” quipped Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Graham described Witkoff and Rubio as a “really good team,” saying that the former is “a good business guy, he’s a quick learner, he understands what he doesn’t know.”
Witkoff’s help sealing the Gaza deal justified the president’s decision to tap him for the broader envoy portfolio, a White House official said.
His “untraditional background as a dealmaker,” the official added, helped the US ink the Gaza ceasefire.
O’Brien described Witkoff’s closeness to Trump as bringing foreign policy “bona fides that no one, outside of maybe Jared or Marco, [has].”
So when he speaks, foreign leaders listen.
The View From The Critics
Much of the criticism of Witkoff stems from his work on Ukraine negotiations and has intensified in recent days after an initial 28-point Ukraine peace proposal leaked to the media.
After Bloomberg reported that Witkoff advised a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin on how he should raise a peace proposal with Trump on a call in October, Don Bacon, R-Neb., said “it is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians” and called for him to be fired. Instead, the White House stood by him.
But even before the latest peace push, Witkoff’s work on Ukraine had drawn scrutiny. After he held face-to-face meetings with Putin earlier this year, critics scoffed at reports that he relied on Kremlin translators during the encounters.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a cosponsor of bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation, said he thinks Witkoff “overestimates Putin’s willingness to negotiate” when in reality Putin “understands only force.”
And one European official characterized Witkoff as out of his depth in dealings with Putin.
“He is good at the Middle East and everywhere where the environment is naturally more easily transactionist,” the official said in a text message. “Not so good with Russia (Ukraine), where from Putin’s side it is not about transactions and wealth but about history and legacy for the next centuries.”
Morgan’s view
Trump has no particular respect for traditional government experience, and that’s especially true of foreign policy. The coin of this US president’s realm is demonstrating access to, and trust from, the principal.
Indian leaders were excited at the prospect of Sergio Gor becoming India’s US ambassador, for example, not because of his experience with the country (he had little to none) but because he has a direct line to Trump.
At the end of the day, Witkoff’s relationship with Trump makes him an effective diplomat for this White House, because he’s executing on exactly what the commander-in-chief wants. Their tight relationship extends even beyond them; Witkoff’s sons are also deeply involved in the crypto business run by Trump’s sons.
The biggest lesson of what we’re seeing in the Russia-Ukraine talks: Trump cares most about ending the war, rather than the specific terms.
Room for Disagreement
O’Brien argued that Witkoff’s business background is exactly the type of experience needed to solve global conflicts like the war in Gaza, noting that he began his career as a real estate attorney.
“The reality is that Witkoff has negotiated more deals and settlements — both on his own account for his real estate company, and earlier in his career, as a lawyer representing other people — than anyone in government has,” O’Brien said.
Notable
- Witkoff’s diplomatic efforts have crossed over with his son’s business dealings, The New York Times detailed.
- Witkoff had longstanding business ties to the Gulf upon assuming his role, Semafor reported.
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