Charles Kushner, a New Jersey real-estate developer and the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, became the U.S. Ambassador to France in 2025. Introducing himself to the French public in a social-media video, he said that he knew “a limited amount about France.” He does not speak French; he has never lived abroad. He served time in federal prison for illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. The last crime, a blackmail scheme that involved hiring a prostitute to seduce his sister’s husband, suggests a dubious approach to conflict management. Yet Trump saw fit to hand him one of the most coveted posts in American diplomacy, the seat once held by Thomas Jefferson and by Benjamin Franklin, stewarding the relationship with America’s oldest ally. Since taking up his post, Kushner has earned a reputation for meddling in domestic French politics at sensitive moments. “I don’t see how he can possibly affect the opinions of the French government by regularly irritating them,” the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy said. Lauren Collins reports on Charles Kushner’s Ambassadorship and a new cohort of MAGA diplomats who are underqualified for their posts and overeager to impress the boss back in Washington: newyorker.com/magazine/2026/…