Kushner’s star on the wane as Kelly gets a grip at White House

ONCE seen as unassailable in the White House, Jared Kushner’s influence on his father-in-law, Donald Trump, is reported to be on the wane.

Reports circulating in Washington suggest that Mr Kushner’s wings have been clipped as John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, asserts his authority over an at times chaotic administration riven by infighting.

Mr Kushner, 36, who once enjoyed unfettered access to the president, is now expected to go through Mr Kelly, according to several sources in Washington. His appointment as “special adviser” to the president was controversial from the outset. A property developer with no political experience, Mr Kushner was also a lifelong Democrat.

Mr Kushner was at odds with the hard-right faction led by Steve Bannon, who was forced out of the White House in August but is now sniping at Mr Kushner from Breitbart.

Questions have been raised over Mr Kushner’s sprawling portfolio which appears to encompass everything from trying to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians to running an office of innovation. Mr Kushner also remains a “person of interest” in Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged collusion with the Russians during last year’s presidential election.

There has been growing speculation that Mr Kushner and his wife Ivanka are considering returning to New York. Late last week Mr Kelly tried to calm down the fevered speculation over the couple’s future. “There was honestly never a time when I contemplated getting rid of Jared and Ivanka,” he said.