When US President Donald Trump wanted to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin last week to begin talks on a possible deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he did not send his foreign minister.
The man he sent to the Kremlin to tackle a major geopolitical challenge has no diplomatic background.
Instead, Trump chose his personal friend, golf buddy and billionaire real estate developer Steve Witkoff.
The president has made Witkoff his Middle East envoy. But last week, the Bronx-born businessman spoke with Putin for “about three hours” about ending the conflict in Eastern Europe, Trump said.
Trump said he also had a long phone call with Putin, signaling some thawing in relations between the two countries.
They exchanged prisoners last week, a deal that Witkoff helped broker during a trip to Moscow. He is believed to have discussed the Ukraine war while there.
Witkoff also played a role in brokering the current ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, for which both Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, have taken credit.
Witkoff is now returning to the region — particularly in Saudi Arabia — for the first face-to-face U.S.-Russian talks on the Ukraine war since Trump’s phone call with Putin.
But the Trump team’s bold move is raising concerns among Western allies, who fear it could create a new world order in which key players are left out of the talks. Ukraine and other European countries were not invited to the Saudi meeting.
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So who is Witkoff - dubbed the "man of the house" by U.S. media as the centerpiece of potentially more consequential international talks?
He was Trump's first choice for his top team after he won the presidential election in November. Trump wrote: "Steve will be a steadfast voice for peace and will make us all proud."
"The president sees Steve as one of the world's great dealmakers," a White House official told Axios. According to another aide, Witkoff's preferred negotiating tactic was to use charm, but he could also turn up the heat.
The 67-year-old grew up on Long Island, New York, and trained as a real estate developer in one of America’s most dangerous markets.
A longtime Republican donor, he has known Trump for decades and, like the president, built his fortune in real estate in both New York and Florida.
Speaking at last year’s Republican National Convention, where he recalled speaking to Trump after the assassination attempt, Witkoff called the other man his “true and dear friend … in good times and in bad.”
“These two men are longtime golfing buddies,” U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham told NBC News. “Steve and I would both play Trump and anyone else and lose,” Graham said.
Graham also said that Witkoff first mentioned Trump’s interest in becoming his Middle East envoy during the luncheon. “It surprised me, because I didn’t know he was interested in the Middle East,” Graham said.
Witkoff’s deal-making skills were on display during Trump’s 2024 campaign. He helped ease tensions between Trump and his defeated Republican presidential primary rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Witkoff also reportedly met with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, after Kemp criticized Trump for refusing to support Trump’s baseless claims of fraud after Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden.
He currently serves as chairman of the University of Miami’s Business School Real Estate Advisory Board and was appointed to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during Trump’s first term.