Is Jared Kushner Becoming A Small Shadow State Department?
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“They think Jared can do everything.”
A State Department official said Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a high-level White House advisor, has such a sprawling portfolio that he’s starting to usurp the roles of trained diplomats, according to an article by Julia Ioffe in the Atlantic.
“It’s reminiscent of the developing countries where I’ve served,” the official said. “The family rules everything, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows nothing.”
In January, then president-elect Trump said in an interview with the Times of London that Kushner would work on making a peace deal in the Middle East. He’s also working on trade deals, and is involved in negotiations with Mexico.
Kushner has no experience in diplomacy or government, having spent years working in real estate development, although he did meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Jared’s childhood home, according to the New York Times.
Yet he and Ivanka Trump are seen as steadying figures in an administration that is often seen as erratic. It has become an open secret, and even a joke on Saturday Night Live, that when Jared and Ivanka go home to celebrate Shabbat on Friday night, the president can let loose and send a rogue tweet in their absence.
Contact Shira Hanau at hanau@forward.com
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