Former National Security Adviser John Bolton spoke with ABC News in a tell-all interview about President Donald Trump and his administration. While speaking with Martha Raddatz, he revealed that the most powerful person in the White House isn’t the vice president, but Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“Next to the president, who held the most power in the White House?” Raddatz asked.
“It varied from time to time. At different points, different people would have influence. But I think the sustained answer to that question over time is Jared Kushner,” Bolton said.
He added that the vice president likely had a larger role than it appears because much of what he and Trump did was behind closed doors.
“I think it’s a bit little bit unfair to Vice President Pence because I believe that much of the work he did, he did in private with the president. And that history will record that we owe a lotta gratitude to Mike Pence for the work he did that we just don’t know about at this point,” he said.
Raddatz asked Bolton if he believed that Kushner was qualified for the range of jobs that he has been tasked with, including brokering peace in the Middle East. Bolton declined to answer, saying that his book was focused on Trump and not on his family.
At that point, Raddatz moved away from Kushner to focus on the president’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump. She asked him about a claim that he made that Trump had released a statement about Saudi Arabia after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi as a way to divert everyone’s attention away from negative press that his daughter was seeing. Bolton confirmed that the story was true and that the so-called first daughter’s reputation was heavy on his mind when he made the statement.
Both Kushner and his wife serve as advisers to the president.
Kushner has been criticized for his role in the administration, with some saying that he is underqualified for the role that he plays within the White House.
Recently, rumors began swirling that Trump and Kushner have been butting heads and that the president’s son-in-law may be pushed out of some of his responsibilities.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Trump has been looking to change up his campaign after his popularity has continued to drop in the country. One of the people that may be leaving his campaign team could be Kushner.
