Trump’s ‘rodent’ tweets could apply to Kushner

BALTIMORE — Davon Jones doesn’t have to look far to see the irony in President Trump’s tweets that Baltimore is a “rat and rodent infested mess.” His apartment owned by the president’s soninlaw has been invaded by mice since he moved in a year ago.

“I don’t know how they come in,” Jones says. “Every time I catch them, they come right back.”

Jared Kushner’s family real estate firm owns thousands of apartments and town homes in the Baltimore area, and some have been criticized for the same kind of disrepair and neglect that the president has accused local leaders of failing to address. Residents have complained about mold, bedbugs, leaks and, yes, mice — plenty of mice. And they say management appears in no hurry to fix the problems.

“They don’t care,” says Dezmond James, who says he has spotted as many as three mice a week since he moved into the Commons at White Marsh in Middle River four years ago.

James says he sees a massive contradiction in Trump’s muchpublicized tweets laying the blame for Baltimore’s poverty, crime and rodent problems on frequent antagonist Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings. Trump, he said, should look more at what he — and specifically Kushner — could do about it.

“His soninlaw owns all of this — then he can fix it. I’m pretty sure he has a lot of money,” says James, who is studying to be a medical assistant. “That’s kind of weird that you want to talk trash.”

Conditions got so bad two years ago that the Baltimore County government issued a release showing the Kushner Cos. had violated housing codes more than 200 times in 10 months and only moved to fix the problems after being threatened with fines.

In a statement, the Kushner Cos. said it was proud of its Baltimorearea apartments and has worked to maintain a “high quality residential experience for our tenants” by investing “substantial amounts” in upkeep.

A Commons at White Marsh website boasts of “amenities that amaze,” but many of the 181 comments posted by residents at the apartmentratings.com review site complain of rats, mold, bedbugs and roaches and say management is generally unresponsive.