In March 2016, as the U.S. foreign policy establishment shunned presidential candidate Donald Trump, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was invited to lunch for a think tank urging engagement with Russia.
The meeting at Manhattan's Time Warner Center, which hasn't been reported before, would prove significant for the Center for the National Interest and Kushner, who was still a little-known figure in the Trump campaign.
The main attraction of the March 14th event was Henry Kissinger, the center's honorary chairman, who gave a talk that included analyzing U.S.-Russia relations for a small group of attendees. Kushner, who remained quiet and unobtrusive during the lunch, introduced himself to Kissinger afterward. He also met Dimitri Simes, the long-time president of the center and publisher of its magazine, The National Interest.
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