Witkoff's Miami golf club becomes epicenter of global diplomacy
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Negotiations between U.S. and Ukrainian officials at Steve Witkoff's Shell Bay club in November. Photo: Handan Khanna/AFP via Getty
High-level delegations from at least nine countries descended on the same locale for parallel negotiations this weekend on Ukraine and Gaza.
Setting the scene: That location was not Geneva or Paris, but a sprawling country club outside Miami, co-owned by Steve Witkoff — President Trump's lead negotiator on both of those conflicts.
Breaking it down: Since joining Trump's team in January, Witkoff has split his time between his offices at the White House and at his Shell Bay club, while taking his private jet to capitals in Europe and the Middle East at his own expense for talks on Ukraine, Gaza, Iran's nuclear program and more.
- Leading up to the Gaza deal in October, officials from around the Middle East began traveling to South Florida to meet with Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who also lives in Miami.
- More recently, several rounds of sensitive Ukraine talks have been held at Shell Bay.
Flashback: The first draft of Trump's peace plan for Ukraine was drafted at Shell Bay by Witkoff and Kushner, alongside Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
- Two weeks later, Ukrainian national security adviser Rustem Umerov traveled to the club in Hallandale, Florida, and was briefed on the plan by Witkoff and Kushner.
- Then, in late November, Secretary of State Marco Rubio used the club for a round of more formal negotiations with a Ukrainian delegation.
Behind the scenes: Conveniently for sensitive negotiations, the club is a long way from Washington and from the eyes of the press.
- It's about an hour's drive south of Mar-a-Lago and half an hour north of Miami Beach.
- The club, which opened in 2023, reportedly has a membership fee in excess of $1 million. Diplomats who have visited Shell Bay to meet Witkoff said they also bumped into CEOs of major companies who were there to play golf.
- "It is clearly the place to be. Friday, Gaza. Saturday, Ukraine," a Western diplomat said about this weekend's talks.
State of play: On Friday, Witkoff's club was swarming with diplomatic activity.
- The national security advisers of Ukraine, France, Germany, and the U.K. held talks with Witkoff and Kushner on the U.S. peace plan and security guarantees for Ukraine.
- On Saturday, Dmitriev landed in Miami and met Witkoff and Kushner at the club. The goal was to present the Russian envoy with the latest peace plan and get Moscow's response.
- Witkoff said Sunday that the White House team had met the Ukrainians and Europeans each of the past three days, and Dmitriev over the past two days, describing both tracks of talks as "productive."
Split screen: Meanwhile, the Qatari prime minister, Egyptian intelligence chief and Turkish foreign minister met with Witkoff on Friday at Shell Bay to discuss Gaza.
- The four officials issued a joint statement the next day stressing the need to move towards the second phase of the Gaza deal and enable a new Palestinian governing body to start running the enclave.
What to watch: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Umerov called him from Miami and informed him the U.S. had proposed a trilateral meeting between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia at the national security adviser level. He was noncommittal.
- If such a meeting does go ahead, Witkoff may know just the place to host it.
