The Shine May Be off Golden Boy Kushner in Trump's White House

So just how secure is a family bond in the Trump White House?

Granted, Jared Kushner’s bond is only by marriage to Trump’s favored child, but the president has turned the grand bulk of his duties over to his son-in-law and senior adviser.

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It’s coming to a point where he may need to find a new Golden Boy, if rumors are to be believed.

Trump has had an embattled start to his presidency, in the kindest of terms. The news that Kushner has managed to land in the crosshairs of the FBI, due to his efforts to set up a secret line of communication between the Trump team and the Kremlin was one more Russian headache the president did not need.

How much of a liability has Kushner become?

Enough that his influence within the White House may be waning.

That allegation may be one of the last straws for Trump and Kushner. The president has tried to distance himself from negative reports by pulling away from Kushner in private, but remaining warm in public, according to a new report in the New York Times. Trump even praised Kushner in a statement released Sunday night, just two days after the latest finding dropped.

“Jared is doing a great job for the country,” Trump said in a statement to the paper. “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.”

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Did he mean it, or was that just the public façade?

It was Kushner that recommended he fire James Comey, telling him it would win him points with Democrats, who have held a grudge since Comey reopened the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails just before the election. Many feel that October surprise aided in her defeat.

That was a grand miscalculation.

Getting rid of Comey wouldn’t suddenly make Clinton president, so of course, the move backfired. They had no reason to suddenly love President Trump.

Trump’s ham-fisted handling of the firing didn’t help, actually. He managed to turn a man who was distrusted and disliked by both sides into a sympathetic character.

Kushner has also not-so-discreetly lobbied his father-in-law to get rid of chief strategist Steve Bannon. While Trump was said to have reconciled differences between the two last month, Kushner, a centrist, has continued to work Trump to move on Bannon, as well as press secretary Sean Spicer, both staunch conservatives who represent Trump’s voting bloc.

To top off the complications, Kushner’s sister, Nicole Meyer, recently told investors in Beijing that she could attain EB-5 visas to the U.S. if the financiers of a Kushner Companies condominium project spent more than $500,000.

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It almost appears Kushner has used his position as senior adviser to promote his own brand. Whatever the case, reports are now that he’s used up the family goodwill that helped him into such a plumb role, to begin with.

Trump is said to be using meetings to snipe at Kushner and his family. I have to imagine that excludes Ivanka and the grandkids.

I also can imagine this is a sweet time to be Steve Bannon.

In recent days, Kushner and Ivanka are said to be considering a move back to Manhattan. I don’t believe this is coincidence.

They’re framing it as “reevaluation” of their duties in Washington.

That’s a funny way of saying: Getting out of town while the getting is good.

 

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