President Trump’s “Dame Maker”: Who are you Steve Whitkoff?

Anonymous for anything in Israel: Until three months ago, Steve Whitkoff was an anonymous man in Israel. New York real estate ram, Trump’s close friend for over 30 years, knew before the election that if Trump wins, he wants to be appointed to the Middle East and get a transaction to release the kidnappers.Whitkoff grew up in a low -class Jewish home in Bronx and through the real estate world began as a lawyer who represented Trump. Their friends were coincidentally created – at a joint lunch, Trump got stuck without cash and Witkoff paid him. When Trump was the guest of honor.

 

Whitkoff’s loyalty to complete Trump. The last election campaign became the President’s “problems”, and sent to Pace between him and the Florida De Santis governor and former U.S. Ambassador Nicki Haley, who competed against him in the Republican primaries. His friend Rani, who has known him for decades since he was his battle guide, said: “He was preparing for this position for several months, even before the election. It was very important for him to take care of the Middle East. He just believed he was able to do it.”

“He’s doing something different here, and took it really to the heart”

Upon his appointment as a messenger to the Middle East, the abducted families began to contact him, and slowly realized he was indeed an address for them. In almost every interview, Whitkoff mentions the kidnapper Alexander, an American citizen that Hamas published a signal. Idan’s mother said: “The first phone I received after Idan’s video was from Vitkoff. He does something really different here, different, he really took it to the heart. He is in touch with everyone, they are very respectful.

In his meetings with the kidnapped families, even before the deal was achieved, the participants said they had burst into tears from the attitude they received from him. “We have never encountered such a response from a negotiation party,” they explained. One of the factors in Israel involved in the contacts in front of Whitekoff described him as “Trump’s execution contract” when it comes to a kidnapping deal, stating: “There was no deal if there was no Whitkoff in the picture. He just brought it to the final line.

Sees the business a personal mission – after his son’s tragic death

Whitkoff’s commitment to the deal is also reflected in his public actions. At the event of Trump’s inaugural celebrations, the abducted families invited to get on stage. When he arrived in Israel, he also sought to meet the observations released from captivity. Rani tells of an episode that illustrates his character: “When he traveled with the convoy, he suddenly sees the square, he asks, what it is? They say, it’s the kidnapped and kidnapped square. So he says, stop, I want a moment to get off.”

Whitkoff sees the release of the kidnappers a personal mission, especially in light of the tragedy he experienced when Andrew died of an overdose – which shakes his life. Trump supported him in this crisis, and in the first term he shared a place of honor at the event for addiction.

During his last visit to Israel, Witkoff chose to visit the Gaza Strip to see the situation with his own eyes. His friend Rani said of the visit: “The tour in Gaza is over, the helicopter landed to pick us up, so all the lenders go to the helicopter, get on the helicopter and I look back, I stand next to him. Just a man of people. ” What he saw in Gaza was detailed to the president and inspired statements about Trump’s Gaza program. ”

Warranty areas are expanding

Recently, Trump has expanded Witkoff’s responsibilities. The president appointed him to the contact person with Russia and sent him talks about the Russian-Ukrainian War in Saudi Arabia. In addition, Witkoff is also a Trump man designed for negotiations with Iran. It has recently been announced that in recent months, intelligence has been found that Iranians want to assassinate Trump and try to overthrow his aircraft, the president has used Whitakoff’s private aircraft, as the deception.

After exerting pressure on Israel to sign an agreement, Jerusalem officials made concerns about his connection to the locomotive because they sold one of the luxury hotels he owned several years ago. Some saw it as an attempt to conflict between the two. A person involved in the contacts said: “If someone thought he would be able to stuck between him and Trump, he was wrong.”