There’s something of a problem with the story of the Kushners’ position that they went to the meeting intending to turn down any offer of cash.

The meeting between Charles Kushner and Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif al-Emadi was reported earlier this month by the online publication the Intercept. It said the meeting had been requested by Kushner.

The initial response to the story by the Kushner Companies was to lie about it. They denied meeting with anyone from the Qatari government. But now they’ve admitted to meeting with Qatari officials, but denied they meant to solicit funds.

So why did the Kushner Company ask for the meeting? They have a $1.2 billion loan that comes due in less than a year, and no one lined up to pay for it. Unless … they made other arrangements.

At the time of the meeting between the Kushner Companies and the finance minister of Qatar, Jared Kushner was already prepping to go with Trump on a Middle East trip. On that trip, Trump coordinated with Saudi Arabia and gave his tacit go-ahead to a blockade of Qatar.

Days after the summit, the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, with Trump’s public support, revived their long-standing charges that Qatar was funding international terrorism, broke relations with the neighboring country and instituted an economic boycott.

And Jared also did some socializing while in Riyadh …

... Jared Kushner solidified his relationship with Salman’s son and heir apparent, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

This wasn’t Jared’s only trip to visit with bin Salman. He was back two months later on his own. Then, again in October, Jared Kushner went winging back to Saudi Arabia on an unannounced visit.

Kushner left Washington, D.C., via commercial airline on Wednesday for the trip, which was not announced to the public, a White House official told POLITICO. … The White House official would not say who Kushner met with in Saudi Arabia. But he has cultivated a relationship with the crown prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, who, like Kushner, is in his 30s. Kushner arrived back in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night in time for a surprise birthday dinner for his wife, Ivanka Trump, at the Trump International Hotel.

And tomorrow, bin Salman pays a return visit.

There is, however, one area where Kushner has scored a win, which is placing a big bet on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32, who only four years ago was an obscure Saudi prince and today is running the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Part of that “win” was the way that the United States stayed completely hands off both as the Saudis and the UAE closed down Qatari ports, and as bin Salman turned his relatives from princes to prisoners.

Two months ago, authorities arrested dozens of royals, businessmen and senior government officials as a part of a corruption crackdown. Those detained included the former head of the royal court, Khaled Al-Tuwaijri, and Saudi media mogul Waleed Al-Ibrahim. The investigation is being overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was appointed head of a new anti-corruption committee hours before the arrests began November 4.

Trump and the Saudis bonded over their joint enemy: the free press.

It was hardly an accident that just days after Trump's triumphal trip, Saudi Arabia and the UAE began the blockade of their neighbor, the gas-rich kingdom of Qatar. The Saudis and Emirati ruling families loath Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based TV news channel.