A big claim has come out regarding spying on the phone of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and former senior adviser of US President Donald Trump. According to an excerpt from an upcoming book by American investigative journalist Matthew Cole, the MIVD, the Netherlands’ military intelligence agency, gained access to Kushner’s iPhone in 2018. The agency is said to be able to track the activities on his phone screen. That’s how he got information about one of Kushner’s bank accounts that claimed to have millions of dollars. Kushner has denied all the allegations. In the year 2020, there was a cyber attack on Jeff Bezos’ phone from Saudi. At that point Kushner was advised to change his phone. Let’s know how Kushner’s phone got hacked..

1. The story of espionage began with a Russian hacker

According to journalist Matthew Cole, in late 2017 the military intelligence agency of the Netherlands learned that a hacker linked to the Russian military intelligence agency GRU was traveling to Britain on an espionage mission. The hacker was known for his work related to stolen bank data.

The Dutch agency sought permission from Britain to detain him. British officials agreed. After this, the Russian hacker was presented with two options. Work for an agency in the Netherlands or face trial and prison in Britain on espionage charges. He chose to work with an agency in the Netherlands.

He then gave access to sensitive computer systems of the Russian military intelligence agency. While investigating a server located in the Russian city of Rostov, Dutch authorities found screenshots from Kushner’s iPhone. From that he learned that Russian hackers had already gained access to his phone.

2. Weakness found in iPhone security

Kushner was using an iPhone that was launched in November 2017 and featured Face ID. The phone could be unlocked by face recognition. As Matthew Cole reports, the Dutch agency tried to understand the methods of Russian hackers. During the investigation, he found a weakness in the phone’s security, which could be used to gain access to the phone. As of early 2018, the agency understood this mechanism.

However, this reach had some limitations. According to the report, Dutch officials could not turn on the phone’s microphone or camera, nor could they add or remove files from it. But whenever Kushner used the phone, the agency could watch his activities on the screen. She used to store screen images on her computer server. That is, the phone’s security was breached in this case, but the detectives did not gain complete control over every part of the phone as described in the report.

3. Millions of dollars in bank accounts and transactions seen on phones

According to the report, after looking at the phone’s screen, Dutch officials noticed that Kushner was logging into a bank account in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Crores of dollars were claimed to have come into this account from a bank in Azerbaijan.

In Matthew Cole’s book, this account is called Alpha. According to the report, the account was in UAE’s First Abu Dhabi Bank. It claims to have received around $750 million from the royal families of Saudi Arabia and the UAE since 2017. The bank’s chairman Tahnun bin Zayed, brother of UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, is said to be in charge of the account. According to the book, the money was to be used for political and diplomatic purposes in the Middle East.

The book also mentions another account, named Beta. In which it is claimed that there are about 1 billion dollars and transactions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. According to the report, this money reached an account in Israel. At least $2 billion is claimed in both accounts. However, these claims have not been independently verified and it has not been proven that the entire amount was Kushner’s personal property.

4. Bezos’ phone and Saudi Arabia’s old dispute

In January 2020, it was reported that Bezos’ iPhone may have been infected with spyware through a video file sent via WhatsApp in May 2018. The message was claimed to have been sent from the account of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, no evidence of malware was found in the phone during the investigation.

After the case, UN expert Agnes Callamard advised in January 2020 those people, including Kushner, who were in regular contact with the crown prince to change their phones and undergo security checks. At the time this advice was based on potential risk.

5. What did Kushner say and what has been proven so far?

On October 22, 2026, Kushner took to social media to call the allegations completely false. He said the report did not provide verified evidence such as bank statements, records of remittances, account numbers or dates of transactions. His lawyer also denied the allegations and talked of legal action. The White House also dismissed the book’s claims. On the other hand, the Military Intelligence Agency of the Netherlands told NOS that it does not comment on its working methods, information and sources.