Jared Kushner’s Friend Picked by Donald Trump as Assistant

Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

By Josefin Dolsten January 5, 2017

(JTA) — A Jewish real estate developer who is friends with Jared Kushner reportedly is joining Donald Trump’s administration as assistant to the president.

Reed Cordish, a partner at his family’s real estate and entertainment firm, The Cordish Companies, co-hosted a fundraiser for Trump’s presidential campaign in October, according to Jewish Insider, which first reported on Cordish joining the Trump administration. Kushner’s wife and the president-elect’s daughter Ivanka Trump introduced Cordish and his now-wife, Margaret Katz.

Cordish’s father, David, the chairman and CEO of The Cordish Companies, and the president-elect are friends. The two met during the mediation process of a lawsuit in which Trump sued The Cordish Companies.

David Cordish also is a board member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a prominent lobbying group on behalf of Israel.

Josefin Dolsten is a New York-based writer who has reported for the Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Times of Israel and other Jewish publications. She currently works as an account director at Fenton Communications, supporting organizations that work to advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Dolsten earned her B.A. in government from Cornell University and her M.A. in comparative religion and Jewish studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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