Donald Trump Reportedly Considering Son-In-Law Jared Kushner For Chief Of Staff Job
On December 8, President Donald Trump announced that his Chief of Staff John Kelly is set to leave the post by the end of the year, as the Guardian reported.
“John Kelly will be leaving at the end of the year. We’ll be announcing who will be taking John’s place … I’ll be announcing that over the next day or two,” Trump said, prompting widespread speculation.
It has been a week since the president’s statement, but the vacancy left by Kelly has not been filled. Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, was reportedly considered for the job, but Ayers announced via Twitter that he would be departing at the end of the year as well.
Having seemingly exhausted all possible options, President Trump is reportedly turning to his own family. According to the Huffington Post, Trump is considering Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, for the job. Ivanka’s husband and White House adviser has reportedly already met with his father-in-law to discuss taking over Kelly’s post.
The publication’s sources claim that Kushner has cited his work on criminal justice reform, and the alleged ability to collaborate with the Democratic Party, as the main reasons Trump should consider him for Chief of Staff.
“I don’t know why he thinks that, when the Democrats are mainly going to be coming after Trump,” a source told Huffington Post.
It remains unclear who exactly Jared Kushner is momentarily competing with for the chief of staff position, but according to media reports, Trump — who claims to be “interviewing people” — is having a hard time filling the vacant position. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former deputy campaign manager David Bossie, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, economic adviser Larry Kudlow, North Carolina Republican Congressman Mark Meadows, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have all reportedly turned the president down.
Jared Kushner isn’t a contender for chief of staff, two White House aides said https://t.co/4bZkgByBjI pic.twitter.com/39biDzMWUA
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) December 13, 2018
Concerns about nepotism loom large, however, and according to the Huffington Post, both Jared Kushner and his wife and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, are facing “considerable” opposition inside and outside of the White House. Kushner has metamorphosed into a strong advocate of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Ivanka has gotten herself entangled in a few scandals of her own.
Earlier this month, the New York Times revealed that Jared Kushner’s friendly relationship with Saudi Arabia’s brutal leader appears to be a product of two year-long grooming.
“The prince and his advisers, eager to enlist American support for his hawkish policies in the region and for his own consolidation of power, cultivated the relationship with Mr. Kushner for more than two years, according to documents, emails and text messages reviewed by The New York Times.”
White House Adviser Ivanka Trump came under intense scrutiny following revelations that she had sent hundreds of emails in 2017 using her personal account, as reported by the Inquisitr.
