Steve Witkoff
Special envoy named in cited reporting on Russia and the Middle East.
Profile text here is limited to what the cited stories establish; this is not a biography.
Stories 6
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Foreign Policy
Give up the Donbas or face 'a very bad thing': the 2026 pressure campaign on Kyiv while Moscow gives up nothing
Through 2026 the administration pressed Ukraine to quit the Donbas it still holds while easing pressure on Moscow; Putin kept bombing Kyiv, and 61 percent of Ukrainians and 76 percent of Americans reject the trade.
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Defense and Security
Operation Epic Fury: a war of choice launched days before a deal, still unfinished eight months and $43.6 billion later
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026, two days after Oman said a deal was near; eight months on Hormuz is contested, 21 US troops are dead, the bill is $43.6 billion, Iran's uranium is unaccounted for and no deal exists.
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Government and Oversight
A war Congress never authorized: three House votes, one Senate vote reversed overnight after Trump called a senator a 'lunatic'
Congress holds the war power. The Iran war began with no vote, a notice that ignored the War Powers Resolution and no briefing for six weeks; the House voted three times to end it and the Senate once, until Republicans flipped.
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Foreign Policy
Red carpet in Anchorage, Kremlin talking points in the peace plan: how Russia's terms became the US position
Trump hosted Putin on US soil in August 2025 with no deal and no ceasefire; by November a 28-point US plan asked Ukraine to give up Donetsk, cap its army and forgo NATO, and leaked calls showed the US envoy coaching the Kremlin.
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Money and Conflicts of Interest
Trump's crypto money: $1.4 billion reported income, a UAE stake, and a lawsuit that is only a filing
Trump's 2025 disclosure reported over $1.4 billion in crypto income; Reuters estimates about $2.3 billion in family gains; a $500 million UAE-linked stake drew a CFIUS request and, in October 2026, an unproven lawsuit.
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Foreign Policy
Helsinki to St Petersburg: the documented record of Trump siding with Putin
From taking Putin's word over US intelligence in Helsinki in 2018, to calling the 2022 invasion 'genius,' to nine envoy meetings and a diesel deal in 2026, the record of Trump's deference to Putin is long, public and bipartisan-documented.