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Is Donald Trump about to ditch Jared Kushner, his prodigal son-in-law?
Reports suggest the 36-year-old's portfolio is being drastically scaled back
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Your support makes all the difference.For a long time, Jared Kushner carried himself with something of a swagger.
After playing a central role in Donald Trump’s election campaign, he – along with Ivanka Trump – took up offices in the West Wing. There were few people’s counsel the President’s trusted more than that of his eldest daughter and his son-in-law.
Kushner had come to the campaign with no experience other than in real estate. Despite that, Trump appeared to believe there was nothing he could not do. He tasked him with improving US-China relations, overseeing a project to improve government efficiency and appointed him head of the White House Office of American Innovation.
He was also asked to take care of that little issue of peace in the Middle East.
But have things gone sour for Kushner? Amid the backdrop of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing probe into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign, two reports – published on the same day – have suggested Kushner’s role is being reduced and that he is keeping a much lower profile.
The New York Times article said the shrinking of his portfolio was a result of the appointment of John Kelly as Trump’s new chief of staff. “John Kelly has proved less permissive than his predecessor,” it said.
The Washington Post said: “His once-sprawling White House portfolio, which came with walk-in privileges to the Oval Office, has been diminished to its original scope.”
Reports suggest Kushner is becoming increasingly jittery and worried about the direction Mueller probe is taking, especially after he issued indictments against three former Trump campaign figures – Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos.
“Do you think they’ll get the President?” Kushner asked a friend, according to Vanity Fair.
Washington is gripped by Mueller’s probe and the question of who may be next to be charged. Many believe it could be Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Norman Eisen, who saved as Barack Obama’s White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform, suggested Mueller may be seeking to put the squeeze on Flynn in order to get at Kushner and then Trump.
“Kushner, Donnie Jr and the rest of the Trump crime family better keep their overnight bags handy. Pack shoes with no laces guys,” he tweeted.
Kushner has reportedly not yet been interviewed by Mueller’s team. But he has testified in camera to congressional investigators.
“I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government. I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector. I have tried to be fully transparent,” he said in a statement afterwards. “Hopefully, this puts these matters to rest.”
There would have been plenty for them to ask about; his presence at a meeting at Trump Tower at which a Kremlin-linked lawyer sought offer damaging material about Hillary Clinton, his four meetings with Russian officials, his role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey and his presence a the centre of the unlikely campaign that defeated Clinton.
Reports suggest neither Kushner or his wife are enjoying their time in the White House, or the fact that their rather progressive circle of New York friends have reduced in size. He said to be deeply concerned his conversations are being picked up by government-authorised wiretaps, or even by Russia or China.
Even though Kushner and his wife have bought a house in Washington’s Kalorama neighhourhood, close to the Obamas, such has been their desire to return to New York that one plan was reportedly floated which would have seen Ivanka Trump replace Nikki Haley as the US Ambassador to the UN, if Haley were to replace Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.
Those around Kushner are pushing back at any suggestions he could ever be more than a witness to Mueller’s investigation, or that he is being sidelined inside the White House. His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, declined to comment. A White House spokesperson, speaking on background, told The Independent it was a “ridiculous question” to ask about possible indictments of the President’s son-in-law.
Trump, the man who insisted that his daughter and son-in-law join him in the White House, also insisted nothing had changed.
“Jared is working very hard on peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and the last thing I would ever do is get in the way of that possibility,” he said in an email to The Times. “Jared has been very effective since the earliest days of the campaign and the same is true today.”
He added: “He understood the movement then and has been helpful implementing the agenda the American people voted for since.”
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