Witkoff: Putin’s Messenger?

What did Steve Witkoff know about Russia when he was first sent to see President Putin in February last year?

“Nothing,” said President Trump. “People just love Steve” was the reason he got the nod.

“I know how to negotiate,” Witkoff says in his own words. He’s also said, “The professionals haven’t solved it.”

Today is the eighth time Steve Witkoff has been in the Kremlin meeting Putin, again trying to find a path out of the Ukraine war. He’ll be alongside Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law.

Tomorrow, the pair are due to go to Kyiv, notably, for the first time.

The initial connection, according to the Wall Street Journal, between Witkoff and Putin was a calculated diplomatic reach-out, not by Trump but by Putin himself, who had been studying the “psychological profiles of the officials around Trump.”

The one rule of engagement Witkoff was given was to come alone, without any CIA handlers, diplomats, or even an interpreter, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Our guests

James J. TOWNSEND JR. Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense