Events testing the capability, candor of Trump’s son-in-law
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner at the United Nations in Manhattan on Feb. 20, 2018. Credit: EPA / Jason Szenes
The time may be near when America learns whether Jared Kushner, son-in-law and high-level aide to President Donald Trump, knows what he is doing.
If Kushner doesn’t know what he’s doing on the job, he is unlikely to forge an Israel-Palestine peace, work out deals with Mexico and China, “reinvent” government and, most importantly, retain Trump’s confidence for tasks he’s been assigned.
The question of ability is a fair one. Even if Kushner, 37, does know all the subtle implications of what he’s doing, other questions arise.
Last year Kushner met in the White House with executives of Apollo Global Management and Citigroup. Those companies provided huge loans to his family’s real-estate business, where officials deny any linkage to Kushner’s White House role.
Meanwhile, special counsel Robert Mueller has inquired about Kushner’s attempts to finance the family firm’s ventures. There were talks with people from Qatar and Turkey, Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates, NBC News said.
Kushner might also wish to show how his White House meetings with big bankers didn’t relate to any policy decisions. The administration’s stated support for Saudi Arabia’s efforts to isolate Qatar in the region followed a Kushner company’s failure to secure financing from a Qatari fund.
Is this a coincidence until proved otherwise? Is it fair for him to have to prove a negative? After all, he’s never been charged with wrongdoing.
Still, the theory behind all conflict-of-interest rules is that even appearances of and potential for a conflict should be avoided.
Nepotism also becomes a problem if the appointed person doesn’t know what he’s doing — or knows what he’s doing but it isn’t the clearly correct thing.
Other officials in the past have been able to explain away potential conflicts to the satisfaction of those in charge.
But Kushner has had other problems as well. His security clearance has been downgraded.
The Washington Post quoted government sources saying officials in four countries privately discussed ways they can manipulate Kushner given his complicated business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy chops.
The question has been raised in recent days whether Trump will keep his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Kushner, on his presidential team.
After the security-clearance issue arose last month, Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, said: “As I told Jared days ago, I have full confidence in his ability to continue performing his duties in his foreign policy portfolio . . .
“Everyone in the White House is grateful for these valuable contributions to furthering the President’s agenda. There is no truth to any suggestion otherwise.”
The official line still holds that Kushner knows what he’s doing.
Then again, official lines in this White House have been known to change in matters involving high-level personnel.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
