Fox News’s Kilmeade says Kushner, Witkoff should not lead Iran talks

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on Thursday criticized the Trump administration’s lead negotiators in the ongoing peace talks with Tehran, suggesting they are not qualified to handle the complex discussions.

President Trump tapped his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the negotiations.

“I also don’t think that Witkoff and Kushner should be the ones doing this. They’re business guys,” Kilmeade said on Fox News’s “The Five.”

“They have not been effective in Ukraine, not been effective in Gaza, they have not been effective in this,” he continued.

The conservative commentator said Secretary of State Marco Rubio should helm the talks instead.

“He should take the lead on this because you can’t do this like a business deal,” Kilmeade said. “You have to understand the history of the region and how distrustful the Iranians have been. They will only make a decision if they have no other choice.”

The Fox News host previously issued criticism of Witkoff in December, following reports that the special envoy advised a senior Russian official to praise Trump during negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.

“I’m so glad Jared Kushner’s going with Steve Witkoff because I just think he likes Russia too much. All indications are that he sees more Russia’s point of view,” Kilmeade said at the time, as reported by The Independent.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) agreed with Kilmeade’s latest comments about the Iran peace talks, saying the situation requires “very talented negotiators” in an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday.

“I don’t think the Trump administration has done the work on diplomacy any more than they did the work to know that this war wasn’t going to lead to the result that they wanted, even though that was something a lot of experts told them,” the Democratic lawmaker said.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) also expressed concerns about Kushner and Witkoff’s involvement in the negotiations in an interview with ABC News earlier this year.

“Kushner and Witkoff are very accomplished businesspeople,” Tillis said. “I’m sure they’re good negotiators, but they’re not subject to Senate confirmation and they’re not subject to oversight.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.