Ivanka
Trump and Jared Kushner 'struggling to control Donald Trump as their
influence wanes'
President's
son-in-law reportedly angry over new leader's saga with Mexico
Maya Oppenheim
@mayaoppenheim
Jared Kushner and
Ivanka Trump have long been said to be a calming influence on Donald
Trump. While the President is known for his brash, off-the-cuff
remarks, the immaculately turned out couple are reported to be a
moderating force behind the scenes.
Mr Kushner, a
property developer who is both Mr Trump’s senior advisor and
son-in-law, played a pivotal role in his presidential campaign and
was often the last person the Republican consulted before making key
decisions.
However, Mr
Kushner’s influence on Mr Trump is reported to be waning inside the
White House. The businessman, who married Ivanka in 2009, is said to
have had his patience tested in recent days.
This is reported to
have reached a head after Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto
called off his meeting with Mr Trump last week. The cancellation was
prompted by the President tweeting: “If Mexico is unwilling to pay
for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the
upcoming meeting”.
Mr Kushner, who had
spent 24 hours trying to arrange a meeting between the pair, is said
to have been incensed his first triumph in the Oval Office fell
through.
“Kushner was
f****** furious,” a source said to be familiar with the situation
told Vanity Fair. “I’d never once heard him say he was angry
throughout the entire campaign. But he was furious.”
The source, who
suggested Mr Kushner's influence on his boss might be diminishing,
said he had been so invested in the meeting he considered getting on
a plane to Mexico in an attempt to convince the President to meet
with his father-in-law.
The property
developer has previously been viewed as a mediating influence on the
President. Like others, former Governer Richard Codey, a state
senator from Essex County who is a Kushner family friend, predicted
he would be a “calming” influence on Mr Trump and a
counterbalance to other influences.
Mr Kushner not only
advised Mr Trump on strategy, drafted his speeches and ran his
digital media campaign, but has also been a bridging figure.
The developer, whose
key contacts include Henry Kissinger and Rupert Murdoch, accompanied
him on his first visit to the White House after winning the election
and helped him secure a meeting with Jeff Bezos, Sheryl Sandberg, and
other tech titans in December. He is also reported to have secured
the meeting with Mr Trump and Mr Murdoch, who was formerly an
outspoken critic of him.
Mr Kushner's ability
to negotiate is unsurprising given that he was left to take over his
family’s real-estate business at the age of 25, after his father
was sentenced to prison for 18 counts of tax evasion, witness
tampering and making illegal campaign donations.
Likewise, Ivanka's
influence on her father could be waning. The President’s third
child, who is said be his "favourite", was subject to a
torrent of memes and broadsides at the weekend after she shared a
“date night” photo with Kushner while her father’s immigration
ban unleashed chaos in airports across America. People accused her of
“extreme insensitivity” and labelled the photo “wildly
offensive”, “inappropriate” and “tone deaf”.
A source said to be
familiar with the situation told Vanity Fair that Ivanka felt
terrible about the post and did not want something like that to
happen again. If true, this suggests the first daughter may not be
best pleased with Mr Trump’s executive order, which has temporarily
banned travellers from seven majority-Muslim nations.
The so-called power
couple have already been put in the awkward position of having the
preschool attended by their three-year-old son publicly condemn Mr
Trump’s “Muslim ban”.
Adas Israel
Congregation, a Conservative synagogue in Northwest Washington where
Mr Trump’s grandchild Joseph Kushner attends preschool, released a
statement on Sunday rebuking the President’s controversial
immigration ban.
“The leadership
and clergy of Adas Israel Congregation stands with the entire
Conservative movement and other local organisations such as the
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington in
advocating for the rights of immigrants,“ the synagogue said in a
statement on Facebook and in an email sent to synagogue members.
“And rejecting the
targeting of individuals based on religion, and calling on the US
government to reject policy proposals that would halt, limit, or
curtail refugee resettlement in the US or prioritise certain refugees
over others.”
Ivanka and Mr
Kushner, both practising Jews, are in the awkward position of
existing in a community which for the most part rejects the Trump
presidency.
Just 24 per cent of
Jews voted for Mr Trump and many leading Jews and Jewish
organisations have voiced their concerns about Mr Trump’s policies
and the issue of anti-Semitism among some of his supporters.
While Mr Kushner was
brought up in the Modern Orthodox tradition, Ivanka converted to
Orthodox Judaism before they got married. Prior to marrying, the
couple reportedly broke up for a short period because Mr Kushner’s
parents hoped he would marry a Jewish woman.
A representative for
the Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment
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