Only in Trump world can family dinners turn into multi-million-dollar scams. Forget Monopoly, the in-laws of Tiffany Trump allegedly decided to play “Who Can Swindle Jared Kushner First?” and the prize was a shiny half-built yacht in Greece.
According to The New York Times, Tiffany’s husband, Michael Boulos, and his cousin Jimmy Frangi pushed Kushner into what was supposed to be a golden investment. The pitch was simple: buy a yacht, fix it up, sell it or rent it out, and make millions. But the deal was stuffed with hidden tricks.
By June 2021, Boulos was sending Kushner presentations to buy an unfinished yacht called the Solstice, being built in Greece. Frangi’s firm told Kushner the price was €12.5 million, about $15 million, with a $1 million commission built in. What Kushner didn’t know was that the firm was actually paying millions less, then pocketing the difference. According to text messages later revealed, the firm secretly raked in $3.5 million instead of the $1 million Kushner had agreed to.
The firm even admitted in texts that it had to work to keep Kushner in the dark. One executive warned that it would be “difficult to hide” the yacht’s real value and stressed it was important that Kushner not hire an independent appraiser.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
Michael Boulos, meanwhile, was personally pressing the deal forward. When Kushner’s lawyer slowed things down, Boulos messaged an associate at the law firm saying, “Me and Tiffany are pi—ed off.”
The sale closed in early 2022. Frangi reportedly made $400,000 in commission plus several hundred thousand in extra fees. Boulos took home $300,000. Kushner, the supposed master of Middle East dealmaking, ended up overpaying for a yacht that still sits unfinished in Greece.
When Kushner finally realized he had been overcharged, he confronted Frangi, who scrambled to explain away the inflated price. A lawyer later described the whole setup during a separate dispute with Frangi. A spokesperson for Kushner declined to dig into the mess but oddly said only that Boulos was doing a “great job” trying to find a new buyer for the yacht.
The drama didn’t stop at the boatyard. Frangi also dangled access to the Trump name. In one message to a Saudi businessman, he wrote, “We want you to be at the top of the guest list,” promising him a photo-op at Tiffany and Michael’s wedding. The businessman never made it to the Florida ceremony, but the intention was clear — everything around this family is a chance to profit.
And it worked. After Trump’s 2024 return to power, Michael’s father, Massad Boulos, became a presidential adviser on the Middle East and then a senior State Department adviser on Africa. Former Guinea prime minister Lansana Kouyaté confirmed that Michael himself is now seeking investors and government deals across Africa.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
