IVANKA & JARED FEEL THE HEAT

Life as Washington’s new power couple is putting pressure on Donald Trump’s eldest daughter and son-in-law

THEY turn heads wherever they go. She’s the glamorous daughter of US president Donald Trump and he’s her dad’s main confidante. Despite having little political experience, Jared Kushner played a major role in putting his father-in-law in the White House. And he’s been rewarded richly with a high-profile job as senior adviser and a direct line to the president.

The Kushners are now regarded as one of Washington DC’s most powerful couples, but is their new life in the volatile president’s inner circle already taking its toll? Jared (36), a property magnate and publisher, is less than a month into his job and already seems to be taking strain.

When he joined the administration he was reportedly hoping he’d be able to rein in the president. At an event in December he told top executives that while Trump was “easy to hate from afar” he was much more moderate at close range, assuring them all the threats about wall-building and Muslim bans were harmless rhetoric.

But within days of being sworn in as America’s 45th president Trump (70) showed he intended keeping both these promises. Jared is now learning the hard way that once his father-in-law has his mind set on something there’s no getting through to him.

The stress of watching Trump drift from one controversial decision to the next is starting to show – Jared has reportedly shed more than 3 kg since inauguration day and looks pale and gaunt.

Apparently he was mortified by the president’s order instituting a ban prohibiting people from seven countries with mostly Muslim populations from entering the United States.

Trump signed the order before sundown on a Friday just as Jared and Ivanka (35), who are orthodox Jews, prepared to observe Shabbat – which means they abstain from work and technological devices such as TV and iPads. Insiders say as a result the couple were oblivious to the outcry Trump’s decision sparked.

On the Saturday, Ivanka shared a picture on Instagram of herself wearing a $5 000 (R67 500) Carolina Herrera dress on the way to some swanky event. Critics took this as an indication that she didn’t care about the chaos at airports where thousands were protesting Trump’s ban.

Jared was also humiliated after he recently brokered a meeting between