'Friend and adviser': Jared Kushner reportedly has a 'behind the scenes' role with Trump
Jared Kushner is working "behind the scenes" with Donald Trump's incoming administration, but he isn't expected to take a formal role, according to new reporting.
NBC News reported on Wednesday that Trump's children are "notable absences" from his new team.
Kushner now "offers suggestions behind the scenes and receives calls from incoming members of Trump’s team asking for advice," the report says, citing "people familiar with his involvement."
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The report highlights Kushner's role in Trump's first term before going further in Kushner's current role.
"Now, the president-elect calls Kushner periodically to get his opinion on some potential hires, the former senior White House official said," according to the NBC report. "Kushner has also spent time talking to Steven Witkoff, whom Trump tapped to be special envoy to the Middle East, helping him 'get up to speed' on a part of the world that is beset by war, this person added."
The report adds that Kushner's "aim is to be 'the friend and adviser' to Trump’s new team that he 'wished' he had had when he joined the Trump White House in 2017, the former official said."
"During the transition, Kushner has weighed in on certain appointments and nominations — one in particular being a plug for private equity executive Marc Rowan to be nominated for treasury secretary, four sources familiar with the conversations said. (Trump instead chose hedge fund executive Scott Bessent)," the report says.
The report quotes another source as saying, “He is going to run his business and continue to build his family... He will, I think, help on things like the Middle East if asked, but he had such a trying experience last time [that] I don’t think he’s interested.”
“It’s not bad blood,” the person added, according to the report. “He’s just going to be doing other things.”