Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square, publicly defended Jared Kushner following reports questioning the Trump adviser’s investment links to an Israeli financial firm while he engages in Middle East diplomacy. Ackman characterized the criticism as spiteful and affirmed Kushner’s role in peace negotiations.

Ackman backs Kushner’s diplomatic role

Ackman took to X to describe Kushner as a "first-class human being," stating that the United States is "extremely fortunate" to have him representing national interests in negotiations involving peace and hostage returns. He condemned attempts to discredit individuals out of "spite, envy, political calculation or otherwise."

The defense followed a CNN report examining Affinity Partners, Kushner’s investment firm, and its significant stake in Phoenix Financial, an Israel-based company.

Affinity Partners’ exposure to Phoenix Financial

CNN reported that Affinity Partners holds a 7.4% stake in Phoenix Financial, valued at over $1 billion as of July, making it the largest shareholder. The report highlighted that Phoenix has investments totaling more than $456 million across nine companies supplying equipment to Israel’s military, including defense contractor Elbit Systems. However, the report noted that Affinity does not directly own stakes in those nine companies.

In July, Kushner’s firm sold approximately one-quarter of its Phoenix stake for more than $340 million, generating a return of more than five times its initial investment. CNN stated it found "no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed."

Kushner rejects misleading narrative

Kushner disputed the report, calling the headline "deeply misleading." He described Phoenix as a highly regulated financial institution managing about $220 billion across thousands of investments, comparing it to the Israeli equivalent of Vanguard or Fidelity. He emphasized that he has "no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells."

In a follow-up post, Kushner noted that he has ignored false stories for ten years but will now respond periodically due to the distortion of the record by repeated falsehoods.

Calls for investigation emerge

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called for an investigation into potential conflicts of interest. Garcia highlighted that Kushner’s firm raised nearly $4 billion from Saudi, Qatari, and Emirati investors while serving as Trump’s Middle East and Gaza negotiator.

"This corruption must be investigated," Garcia said on X, citing the link between diplomatic roles and private investment gains in Israeli defense-linked entities.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman proposes moving artificial intelligence data centers into Earth orbit. He argues that abundant solar power could ease terrestrial energy constraints while strengthening America’s position in the space and AI races.

Isaacman stated that orbital facilities could deliver immense benefits without competing for land and grid capacity. He described the sun as a free fusion reactor available for use.

Energy Demand Context

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates data centers could consume 11.8% of U.S. electricity by 2030. Scenarios range from 9.5% to 15.3%. The International Energy Agency expects global data-center electricity use to roughly double from 485 terawatt-hours in 2025 to 950 TWh by 2030.

Industry Positions

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk supports the concept, stating space is the only way to scale AI computing at scale. SpaceX plans to start flying orbital data centers next year. Its Starmind program describes AI1 satellites with up to 250 kilowatts of peak compute power.

Rocket Lab Corp. CEO Peter Beck calls space-based data centers the next frontier in computing infrastructure. His company is developing solar arrays for power-hungry orbital systems.

Amazon.com Inc.’s AWS CEO Matt Garman disagrees. He called the idea pretty far from reality, citing limited launch capacity and high payload costs. Reuters reported in April that SpaceX warns orbital AI relies on unproven technology and may never become commercially viable.

What the Numbers Show

The divergence between projected energy demand and current infrastructure highlights a critical bottleneck. While global data-center electricity use is expected to nearly double by 2030, terrestrial grid capacity faces constraints. This gap drives proposals for orbital solutions despite significant technical and cost hurdles cited by industry leaders.