On June 4, 2026, real estate mogul Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, highlighting Witkoff's growing role as a key backchannel operator for Donald Trump. This influence has drawn intense scrutiny. On The MeidasTouch Podcast, host Ben Meiselas detailed how Witkoff operates behind the scenes, noting it is "Witkoff and Kushner speaking to the mediator, and then they're going back to Trump" to negotiate international deals.
This backchanneling has led to some public bluster from the Trump camp. Host Brett Meiselas pointed out on The MeidasTouch Podcast that Trump claimed he was "planning on sending J.D. Vance and Steve Witkoff to Europe this weekend to sign this deal"—even though, as Meiselas noted, "as of now, there's no, there's no deal". According to Meiselas, this is part of a pattern where Trump "tries to apply pressure to move things forward" by fabricating progress.
Meanwhile, over on The Tucker Carlson Show, the discussion turned to the bizarre security measures and international espionage trailing Witkoff. One episode detailed a security setup where Witkoff's private plane was used as a decoy to protect Trump from an Iranian missile threat. It was revealed that Witkoff and Susie Wiles would ride in his plane "while the staff were serving as decoys on Trump Force One", a setup described as "pretty crazy" and resembling "a total PSYOP".
It isn't just Iran watching. On the same show, geopolitical analyst John Mearsheimer pointed to a New York Times report indicating that Witkoff is drawing attention from other foreign powers. Mearsheimer noted that Witkoff is one of the two people who "apparently have attracted the most attention" from Israeli intelligence, alongside foreign policy restrainer Elbridge Colby, as operatives scramble "to know what he's up to". With Witkoff positioning himself at the center of Trump's shadow diplomacy, expect his travel itinerary and private jet to remain under a microscope.