Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner Relationship News: President Trump Treats Couple as 'Most Important Advisers' in Running US Government
Regarding the question of who has the U.S. president's ear, it has reportedly become more apparent that Donald Trump's favor and influence has lately been leaning toward eldest daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
With the marginalization of Steve Bannon, and first lady Melania Trump spending most of her days in New York, Kushner and his wife have emerged as President Trump's most important advisers at the moment.
According to The New York Times, the current U.S. president has openly been running the West Wing of the White House like a family business. And with Bannon falling from favor as his combative chief strategist, the president has since turned to his daughter and son-in-law for support and expertise.
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"If you think of it as a classic business model, Trump likes to invest in winners because they make more money, and Jared has been pretty consistently winning," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, who is a known ally of Trump. "You're always on a what's-your-quarterly-report kind of relationship with Trump."
Neither Ivanka nor her husband has previous government experience. The 36-year-old Kushner managed the real estate empire he inherited from his family and purchased "The New York Observer" as a side project. Ivanka, 35, has been groomed along with her brothers to run the family company, but she also started her own fashion brand targeted at young, urban female consumers.
John Oliver, the host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight," has also recently outlined the importance of President Trump's circle of trust and how Ivanka and Kushner are currently in considerable positions of influence.
"For liberals, the popular assumption is that Jared and Ivanka will be moderating influences," the British comedian said. "Basically, if Trump is thinking about pressing a button labeled 'nuke earth' they will — on behalf of all of us — guide his hand towards the button labeled, 'Hey, maybe don't.'"
Oliver also mentioned the responsibilities taken on by Kushner, which include, among many others, brokering peace in the Middle East, reforming the current criminal justice system, leading the Office of American Innovation and spearheading the efforts to resolve the opioid crisis.
