Trump Considering Jared Kushner as White House Chief of Staff
Richard Moorhead
|
Reports surfaced on Thursday suggesting that President Donald Trump is considering hiring his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as the next White House Chief of Staff. Kushner currently serves as a senior White House Advisor. A replacement is required for outgoing Chief of Staff John Kelly, who is slated to leave the White House in January.
Kushner’s influence with his father-in-law and in the administration is well-known. He’s been tasked as an unofficial representative for the United States on numerous diplomatic issues, such as dealing with Saudi Arabia and Mexico. He had been described as a significant figure on the Trump campaign, and married Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka in 2009. Figures within the campaign have described Kushner as a figure who was instrumental in instilling a sense of order and organization in the Trump campaign after the New York businessman secured the Republican nomination in the spring of 2016.
However, some supporters of the ‘MAGA’ ideal were less than thrilled to see Kushner floated as a possibility for the powerful White House position. Concerns remain in President Trump’s core base of supporters about Kushner’s positions on immigration, and his ongoing support of criminal justice reform legislation that could result in thousands of criminals being released from incarceration.
He’s also had a few notable feuds with political figures such as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Kushner may have played a role in pushing Christie out of the Trump transition team after the Presidential election; the two have had a colored history, as Christie played a role in a criminal prosecution of Kushner’s father for fraud as a U.S attorney in the mid 2000’s.
It was briefly considered a possibility that conservative congressman Mark Meadows would fill the role of Chief of Staff, but upon further consideration he decided that he was best suited to advance President Trump’s American nationalist policy priorities within his current role as a member of Congress.
Share: