Thread: Kushner’s Relationship With Trump Tested as Russia Accusations Swirl

Kushner’s Relationship With Trump Tested as Russia Accusations Swirl

By GLENN THRUSH, MAGGIE HABERMAN and SHARON LaFRANIERE
MAY 28, 2017

WASHINGTON — The most successful deal of Jared Kushner’s short and consequential career in real estate and politics involves one highly leveraged acquisition: a pair of adjoining offices a few penny-loafer paces from his father-in-law’s desk in the White House.

Over the past week, Mr. Kushner, who at age 36 occupies an ill-defined role somewhere between princeling and President Trump’s shadow chief of staff, has seen his foothold on that invaluable real estate shrink amid revelations that he has faced new scrutiny in a federal investigation into whether there was collusion with Russian officials during the presidential campaign.

Mr. Kushner, an observant Jew, spent the Sabbath in fretful seclusion with his wife, Ivanka Trump, at his father-in-law’s resort in Bedminster, N.J., unplugged, per religious custom, from electronics. But he emerged defiant and eager to defend his reputation in congressional hearings, according to two of his associates.

What is less clear is how his high-profile woes will affect Mr. Kushner’s hard-won influence on a mercurial father-in-law who is eager to put distance between himself and a scandal that is swamping his agenda and, he believes, threatening his family.

Some Democrats are calling on the president to revoke Mr. Kushner’s security clearances. Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and a chairman of the House committee investigating Russian efforts to sway the 2016 election, suggested in an interview Sunday that the recent news reports about Mr. Kushner have brought the investigation from the periphery of Mr. Trump’s campaign and transition teams directly into the Oval Office.

“If these stories are accurate” in their description of Mr. Kushner and Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s ousted national security adviser, “were they acting at the behest of Mr. Trump, then-candidate or president-elect Trump? But whether they were or not, they’re still significant.”

In a statement to The New York Times on Sunday night, Mr. Trump said: “Jared is doing a great job for the country. I have total confidence in him. He is respected by virtually everyone and is working on programs that will save our country billions of dollars. In addition to that, and perhaps more importantly, he is a very good person.”

But in recent weeks the Trump-Kushner relationship, the most stable partnership in an often unstable West Wing, is showing unmistakable signs of strain.

That relationship had already begun to fray a bit after Mr. Trump’s dismissal of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, which Mr. Kushner had strongly advocated, and because of his repeated attempts to oust Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, as well as the president’s overburdened communications team, especially Sean Spicer, the press secretary.

It has been duly noted in the White House that Mr. Trump, who feels that he has been ill served by his staff, has increasingly included Mr. Kushner when he dresses down aides and officials, a rarity earlier in his administration and during the campaign.

The most serious point of contention between the president and his son-in-law, two people familiar with the interactions said, was a video clip this month of Mr. Kushner’s sister, Nicole Meyer, pitching potential investors in Beijing on a Kushner Companies condominium project in Jersey City. At one point, Ms. Meyer — who remains close to her brother — dangled the availability of EB-5 visas to the United States as an enticement for Chinese financiers willing to shell out $500,000 or more.

For Mr. Trump, Ms. Meyer’s performance violated two major rules. Politically, it undercut his immigration crackdown, and in a personal sense, it smacked of profiteering off Mr. Trump — one of the sins that warrants expulsion from his orbit.

In the following days, the president made several snarky, disparaging comments about Mr. Kushner’s family and the visas during routine West Wing meetings that were clearly intended to express his annoyance, two aides said.

Mr. Kushner did not respond, at least not in earshot.

His preppy aesthetic, sotto voce style and preference for backstage maneuvering seemingly set him apart from his father-in-law — but the similarities outweigh the differences. Both men were reared in the freewheeling, ruthless world of real estate, and both possess an unshakable self-assurance that is both their greatest attribute and their direst vulnerability.

Mr. Kushner’s reported feeler to the Russians even as President Barack Obama remained in charge of American foreign policy was a trademark move by someone with a deep confidence in his own abilities that critics say borders on conceit, people close to him said. And it echoes his history of sailing forth into unknown territory, including buying a newspaper at age 25 and developing a data-analytics program that he has said helped deliver the presidency to his father-in-law.

He is intensely proud of his accomplishments in the private sector and has repeatedly suggested his tenure in Washington will hurt, not help, his brand and bottom line.

That unfailing self-regard has not endeared him to the rest of the staff. Resentful Trump staff members have long talked about “Jared Island,” to describe the special status occupied by Mr. Kushner, who, in their view, is given license to exercise power and take on a vague portfolio — “Middle East peace” and “innovation” are its central components — without suffering the consequences of failure visited by the president on mere hirelings.

Adding to the animus: Mr. Kushner’s aloof demeanor and his propensity for avoiding messy aspects of his job that he would simply rather not do — he has told associates he wants nothing to do with the legislative process, for instance. He also has a habit, they say, of disappearing during crises, such as his absence on a family ski trip when Mr. Trump’s first health care bill was crashing in March.

Mr. Bannon, a onetime Kushner ally turned adversary known for working himself into ill health, has taken to comparing the former real estate executive to “the air,” because he blows in and out of meetings leaving little trace, according to one senior Trump aide. Just as Mr. Trump does, he quickly forms fixed opinions about people, sometimes based on scant evidence. But Mr. Kushner is quicker to admit to others when he has misjudged a situation, and to change course.

Despite the perception that he is the one untouchable adviser in the president’s inner circle, Mr. Kushner was not especially close to his father-in-law before the 2016 election. The two bonded when Mr. Kushner helped take over the campaign’s faltering digital operation, and selling a reluctant Rupert Murdoch on the viability of his father-in-law’s candidacy by showing him videos of Mr. Trump’s rally during a lunch at Fox headquarters in mid-2015.

When asked by friends and associates to describe the source of his influence over the president, Mr. Kushner has offered explanations rooted in loyalty, family and, above all, his acceptance that Mr. Trump is a 70-year-old man of fixed habits who cannot be easily diverted from a course of action he is committed to.

Mr. Kushner is fond of telling friends that he does not have “any vested interests” beyond seeing his father-in-law succeed. Many of the people working for Mr. Trump are not “looking out for the boss, but I am,” Mr. Kushner told a visitor a few days before the Russia news broke.

“My job is to put him in a good place,” Mr. Kushner told another person he spoke to before embarking on the Middle East leg of Mr. Trump’s trip, which he planned.

Often, that entails soothing Mr. Trump. Other times, he serves as a goad, as he did in urging Mr. Comey’s ouster and assuring him that it would be a political “win” that would neutralize protesting Democrats because they had called for his ouster over his handling of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, according to six West Wing aides.

His war with Mr. Bannon has been a damaging distraction, and according to several upper-level staff members, Mr. Kushner has made it plain that they needed to choose sides or be iced out from an increasingly influential team including Gary D. Cohn, the director of the National Economic Council, and a handful of other Kushner-allied power brokers like Dina Powell, a national security official.

Mr. Kushner remains infuriated by what he believes to be leaks about his team by Mr. Bannon, who has privately cautioned Mr. Trump against being “captured” by liberal, New York “globalists” associated with his son-in-law, according to three people close to the president.

Mr. Trump, however, has had enough. He recently chided Mr. Kushner for continuing to call for Mr. Bannon’s ouster, saying he would not fire his conservative populist adviser — who has deep connections with Mr. Trump’s white, working-class base — simply because Mr. Kushner wanted him out, according an administration official.

Mr. Kushner appears to be modifying his own centrist stances. Instead of urging the president to keep the United States in the Paris climate accord, as he sought to months ago, he has come to believe the standards in the agreement need to be changed, a person close to him said.

Mr. Trump admires Mr. Kushner’s tough streak, and shares his taste for payback, especially in defense of his family. Over the years, former employees said, Mr. Kushner has quietly sought revenge on enemies whom he sees as hostile to another scandal-buffeted man in his life — his father, Charles Kushner, a New Jersey-based real estate tycoon who was imprisoned for, among other crimes, efforts to retaliate against his sister for cooperating with a federal inquiry targeting him.

As owner of the Observer, a once-edgy, salmon-hued broadsheet he purchased when he was just 25, Mr. Kushner pushed for negative articles his editors viewed as vehicles for personal animus. The Observer’s targets included The Star-Ledger in Newark, whose coverage of Charles Kushner’s case angered the family; a little-known banker who apparently had irked the elder Mr. Kushner; and a lender who had refused Jared Kushner’s request to forgive part of the family’s debt on a Fifth Avenue skyscraper.

Ken Kurson, a friend of Mr. Kushner who until this month was editor in chief of the Observer, said accusations about personal score-settling were “complete nonsense,” adding that story ideas “can and should come from anywhere.”

Mr. Kushner sees his role as a freelance troubleshooter, but he has focused on foreign policy, friends say, because he saw a gap in the White House structure in that area.

Top administration officials know the importance of cultivating him: Last month he traveled to Iraq at the invitation of Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he serves as a sounding board for officials like Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser, according to Elliott Abrams, a Republican foreign policy veteran whom Mr. Trump vetoed for a job in the State Department.

“I hear more worries about the president than about Jared,” he said. “In fact, I never hear complaints about Jared.”

But Jason D. Greenblatt, the White House adviser on international negotiations, said that on the Middle East at least, Mr. Kushner is not just a sounding board, but an adviser who helps shape policy options for the president. Together with Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson and others, he said, Mr. Kushner helps shape policy decisions to put before the president. He said Mr. Kushner deserves a substantial part of the credit for Mr. Trump’s recent trip to the Middle East. “Jared put together all the moving parts,” he said. “It went great.”

With a staff of about a half dozen, Mr. Kushner has also created an office for innovation that is tackling a disparate array of projects, from promoting apprenticeship programs as an alternative to four-year college degrees to modernizing how the government buys software.

Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, said in an email, “His passion on this is very real.”

So far, on some issues, the innovation office’s role seems mostly advisory. David Shulkin, the veterans affairs secretary, said he meets with Mr. Kushner about twice a month to discuss his plans to modernize his agency.

Asked for a concrete example of how Mr. Kushner’s office has helped him, he said aides were pulling together corporate leaders who hired a lot of veterans “and that’s important.”

But the Russia investigation has shaken Mr. Kushner, friends and associates say. When news broke last week, Mr. Kushner and his wife at first discussed getting a statement denying the report issued through the White House Counsel, Donald F. McGahn II — who told them that it was not a good precedent to set and that it was a job for a personal attorney.

While Mr. Kushner has said he and his wife might move back to Manhattan if it was best for their family, he appears, for now, willing to stay and fight.

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that White House officials had reached out to reassure him that Mr. Kushner was willing to cooperate in the inquiry into possible collusion between the Russians and Trump aides. “He seems to be a very open person,” Mr. Corker said of Mr. Kushner. “I’d let him speak for himself when the time is right.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/28/u...stigation.html

While Mr. Kushner has said he and his wife might move back to Manhattan if it was best for their family, he appears, for now, willing to stay and fight.

Fight for what? Donald Trump has to fight. You can't help him with what he has to do. You might mean well, you're smart and talented, but Donald Trump knows best what to do, on everything. He didn't go to Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania for those rallies because of hat sales, he went to Michigan and Wisconsin because he saw the state polls. I saw them, they were within reach. If he'd gone to Minnesota, he would have won Minnesota, too, it was that close. Trump saw the state polls closing in and that's why he went to those states for the rallies. And if Jared saw the hat sales at the same time, then bingo, you've got diehards.

Trump won this election because of Trump, his Message, his Rallies and his Trump Supporters.

I think Jared and Ivanka should go back to New York. When you become the news and it's not positive, it's over. It happened to Corey although Trump stood by him. It happened to Flynn even though Trump stood by him. And now it's Jared, and like the others, Trump will stand by him. But, Trump isn't going to let this negative publicity swirl any more. No one has done anything wrong. Corey didn't do anything wrong, Flynn hasn't done anything wrong and neither has Jared, but when you become the "story", you have to step out, and let the witch hunts fizzle.

Learn this quick .... Trump is taking on the SWAMP, he's taking on the WORLD, he's taking on TRADE, IMMIGRATION, HEALTH INSURANCE, TAX REFORM, NATO, PARIS ACCORD, the DEFICIT, the DEBT, the BUDGET, the REGULATIONS .... oh my God, so many huge tickets, so you can not be the "story" if it's negative. That's just business, and right or wrong, fair or not, it's no different in politics. The Kushners have brought 3 bad "stories", the EB5 thing the sister did, which you know caused Trump's head to explode, then trying to cozy up to Trump to sell some apartments, which you know made him furious, the Kushner brand ($1.8 B) is NOT the Trump brand ($10 B), not even by marriage twice removed, and now we have Jared and the Russians.

Trump won this election and didn't meet with one Russian. The Russians didn't have anything to do with the election. Trump got Russia to carry the fight in Syria with a tweet and a couple of statements at Rallies during the campaign, "let Russia handle it".

Jared did a great job on the foreign trip, but come on lets not overplay that role. King Salman ASKED Trump in a phone call months ago right after the inauguration if he would use his leadership to lead the Middle East into a new way to achieve peace and prosperity in the region. One phone call at the request of King Salman. The King saw in Trump the skills, knowledge, courage and leadership to turn the tide in the Middle East and set a new stage for peace. That's why they rolled out the red carpet and welcomed him as a Royal. That's why they invited 54 Heads of State to meet with Trump to take out ISIS, arm up against Iran and set a new road for their people of peace and prosperity in the region.

This is all Trump. He's a One Man Machine. The other people just get in his way until they understand his whole agenda and most don't, they're in for their little piece of the puzzle but don't get the whole picture, only Trump sees that, so when you become the "story", I'm sorry, but ... it's over.

And that's a word of warning to Gary Cohn. Gary, keep your mouth shut. Trump wants out of the Paris Accord and rightly so. He already knows more about this "accord" than you ever will, so don't tell the media he's "evolving", he's "learning", he's getting "smarter". How dare you? He knows the accord is a scam to push Germany's solar panel industry at the expense of fossil fuels, and he's 100% right on that. And keep your personal idiotic opinions on coal and its future to yourself. You've lived in a bubble your whole life so you've no idea what works best in a variety of feedstock applications. The advantages of coal are it's cheaper, burns longer and is clean with scrubbers, plus, it's good for the railroads and doesn't need pipelines or haven't you noticed how much Americans hate pipelines these days? Plus coal is safer than natural gas. Natural gas is dangerous because it ... explodes and is toxic due to the killer carbon monoxide, coal doesn't have these issues.

Judy wrote (excerpt):

This is all Trump. He's a One Man Machine. The other people just get in his way until they understand his whole agenda and most don't, they're in for their little piece of the puzzle but don't get the whole picture, only Trump sees that, so when you become the "story", I'm sorry, but ... it's over.

You and I seem to have a difference of opinion on where Trump is at the moment. I'm starting to see the truth behind the words his wife once spoke in his defense.

Melania Trump Defends Donald’s Behavior by Calling Him a “Boy” Who’s Easily Influenced

https://www.brit.co/melania-trump-de...ly-influenced/

I think Trump is being pulled in a lot of different directions and is being too easily influenced by outside groups and those he has chosen to surround himself with. I certainly don't see him as the "One Man Machine" you described him as and I'm starting to think he's not certain anymore of his exact agenda. He is waffling on some of his campaign promises and that is not a good thing. For example, he started right out of the gate breaking his promise to end DACA immediately upon his election.

I'm hopeful Trump will recover his campaign vision as he gains experience as our President, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about the ease at which he seems to be influenced to change his mind and positions.

We definitely have a difference of opinion on Trump and just about everything else.

I saw the interview you're quoting with Melania and she did NOT say her husband was easily influenced. She said she tells her friends she has two boys at home. Some women refer to their husbands that way because their husbands still have some kid in them about certain things usually about what they want to eat, what they want to watch on television, and what they like to do in their free-time, usually related to sports with the guys that the wives aren't interested in.

Trump isn't being "influenced", he's making the best decisions given all the options available. Most of US are going to like most of them, but probably not all. I opposed the cutting of funding for Planned Parenthood and the cut in Family Planning Funding for other countries, what they call the Mexico City Policy. I don't support much foreign aid, but I supported that aid.

This President isn't going to please all of US all the time. But he's going to please most of US most of the time, and I'm very very good with that.

I think Jared and Ivanka should go back to New York.

ASAP! young kushners go home - yea daddy loves you BUT he was elected to be president of the USA on his promises not on the kushners manipulation of him.

The recent revelation of MORE REFUGEES - ivanka influence or did she divulge already set plans in her tv interview calling for more refugees to USA a few weeks ago. It rec'd harsh criticism that she was not elected nor voted for.

Yes, Ivanka and Jared need to go home to New York. They're bright, well-meaning, talented people, but as you say, they're of a different mindset than Trump. Let Trump be Trump and do what he wants his way. That's why he was elected and if he just does it his way, the way he knows it should be done, then we will make enormous progress. Taking refugees when we have 15% poverty levels of our own people, illegal aliens and immigrants is INSANITY, same as allowing all these illegal aliens to stay in the country while importing more visa workers and green card holders, it is NUTS!!

STOP IT ALL!!

We need a 10 to 20 Year Moratorium on All Immigration.