The end of “Javanka”?

“Hear that?” That’s the sound of America’s intelligence community “breathing a loud sigh of relief”, said Rick Wilson on The Daily Beast (New York). The reason these people are so relieved is that Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, no longer has access to highly classified intelligence. Last week, his interim security clearance was downgraded from top secret to secret, a level held by up to three million Americans. The Washington Post subsequently reported that intercepted intelligence had revealed that foreign officials in at least four countries – China, UAE, Israel and Mexico – had discussed using the Kushner family’s vast real estate debt and Kushner’s lack of foreign policy expertise as leverage against him. However, it’s unclear whether those foreign officials ever acted on the discussions: Kushner’s lawyer has dismissed the report as “second-hand hearsay”.

Kushner certainly looks ripe for exploitation, said Marcy Wheeler in The New York Times. His family firm, from which he has partially divested himself, is over $1bn in debt thanks to his ill-fated decision in 2007, just before the recession, to buy 666 Fifth Avenue, a New York skyscraper, for a record price. Kushner has also been “tardy” in fully disclosing his business interests and ties to foreigners. The reason he’s still operating under interim clearance is that his application for permanent clearance has been held up for a year by his constant amendments to the list of contacts. With his finances now on the radar of Robert Mueller, the man leading the investigation into Russia’s interference in the US election, Kushner “may be in real trouble”.

One thing’s for sure, said the Los Angeles Times: Kushner can’t go on serving as a point man for Arab-israeli negotiations and carrying out his many other duties now that he’s out of the security loop. He was never qualified in the first place. He and his wife, Ivanka Trump, “should pack up and return to New York”. I expect they will, said Margaret Carlson on The Daily Beast. The couple, dubbed “Javanka”, came to Washington seeking power and glamour, but things haven’t quite worked out that way. There have been “few glittery evenings”, no White House dinners with film stars. Instead, “Dad eats cheeseburgers in front of the TV”; a big night is going to a Trump Hotel steakhouse with other staffers. FDR reportedly said that one of the worst things in the world was being the child of a president. “If only Trump read history, he might have saved his daughter and son-in-law from finding that out for themselves.”