President-elect Donald Trump announced on Nov. 12 that Steven Witkoff will be his special envoy to the Middle East.
“Steve is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy, who has made every project and community he has been involved with stronger and more prosperous. Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud,” said Trump in a statement.
Witkoff, who is Jewish and runs a commercial real estate firm in New York City and has no foreign policy background, will likely be tasked with dealing with the Iranian threat, the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel–Hezbollah fighting, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and expanding the Abraham Accords that so far includes peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.
Trump’s Middle East policies included moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, withdrawing the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, and implementing a “maximum pressure” campaign against the regime with sanctions, eliminating Iranian Qassem Solemani, and brokering the Abraham Accords.
This is the first time that a Middle East special envoy position has been created.
During the Trump administration, the Middle East portfolio mainly rested with the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also a real estate developer. Kushner will not be returning to the administration, but could serve as an outside adviser on the Middle East.
Witkoff is a longtime friend of Trump whom he had when he was a real estate attorney. The two played golf at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach in September when a man was spotted by a Secret Service agent pointing a gun through a fence in what was an assassination attempt. The suspect fled but was later apprehended and charged.
Witkoff was tapped by Trump to co-lead his Inaugural Committee, alongside former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), ahead of the Jan. 20 Inauguration.
“I thought of that song after my dear friend was shot a few days ago, I gave him a call,” he said, referring to Elvis Pressley’s song “An American Trilogy” and Trump surviving his first assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that month.
“I expected to leave him a voicemail, so it surprised me when he answered the phone,” he said. “But he picked up the phone and said, ‘Hi, Steve, I’m really glad you called. How are you? How are your kids?’ It surprised me, but it shouldn’t have. I know this man very well. President Trump is as kind and compassionate a man as I’ve ever met my lifetime.”
Witkoff is a father of three sons, one of whom, Andrew Witkoff, died of a drug overdose.Trump also announced on Tuesday that he will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as U.S. ambassador to Israel.
