President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is facing growing criticism from current and former officials over his handling of sensitive negotiations with Iran and Russia, The New York Post reported in an exclusive on Wednesday.
Witkoff, a real estate investor with no formal diplomatic background, has taken part in high-level meetings with Russian officials alone and at times relied on Kremlin translators — breaking with long-standing US protocol, sources told the Post.
“Nice guy, but a bumbling f–king idiot,” one former Trump official told the paper. “He should not be doing this alone.”
Witkoff has also drawn fire for his efforts in Middle East diplomacy. A tentative cease-fire deal he believed he had secured with Hamas in March quickly collapsed after the group rejected his terms and offered to release fewer hostages. “Maybe that’s just me getting duped,” Witkoff later told Fox News Sunday.
On Iran, Witkoff floated a proposal allowing Tehran to continue low-level uranium enrichment — a suggestion he walked back after backlash from hawks in Washington. Critics say his approach resembles the 2015 Obama-era nuclear deal that Trump abandoned in his first term.
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton said on X that Witkoff’s talks with Tehran were a “waste of oxygen,” accusing the envoy of repeating mistakes of past administrations.
Analysts warned that Iran is using the talks as cover to avoid military action from Israel. “Witkoff acts as a mailman for Putin,” former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul wrote on social media.
Despite growing concerns, the White House defended Witkoff’s record. “Steve Witkoff has done incredible work securing the release of Americans detained abroad,” deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told the Post. “Like President Trump, he is focused on stopping the killing and advancing peace through strength.”
