Kushner, playing fewer parts, seizes a lead role
Portfolio shrinks as he focuses on father-in-law’s reelection
WASHINGTON — When senior administration officials gathered in the Situation Room last Tuesday for a meeting to discuss the repercussions of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Vice President Mike Pence had a seat at the table. So did Robert O’Brien, the national security adviser, and Mark Esper, the defense secretary.
But the White House aide whose portfolio is the Middle East was notably absent from the meeting.
Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, was sitting for a photo shoot for a planned Time magazine cover story. He was also absent from the Situation Room later in the day when it was clear Iran was launching an attack on American forces and the same officials rushed back, joined by Trump and West Wing aides like Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff, and Stephanie Grisham, the press secretary.
Over the past few weeks, Kushner has had little visible part in what has been Trump’s most high-stakes moment as commander in chief, the starkest example of how much his role in the White House is changing as the Trump presidency enters its fourth year.
Kushner has also served as the peacemaker in trade negotiations with Mexico and China, smoothing over disputes and serving as a mediator between foreign officials and Trump. But with the North American trade deal expected to become law within weeks, and the president poised to sign a first-phase China trade deal Wednesday, that role will be less of a focus.
Instead, Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, the president’s older daughter, is positioning himself to be the overseer of something of even greater personal interest to his fatherin-law: Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.
Unlike the behind-thescenes role he played in the 2016 campaign — where he was seen as a key figure but, campaign aides said, never took a title and avoided blame — Kushner is positioning himself now as the person officially overseeing the entire campaign from his office in the West Wing, organizing campaign meetings and making decisions about staffing and spending. His more prominent role comes after much of 2019 was spent bogged down by the Russia-related investigations that dogged the president since he took office.
The portfolio marks a sharp departure from Kushner’s focus in the early days of the administration, when he sought to be a central driver of administration Middle East policy, acting at times as a shadow secretary of state who circumvented official channels of power within the State Department.
“Since Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has come in, you’ve seen Jared’s role narrow to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said Ilan Goldenberg, director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, who worked under former Secretary of State John Kerry on Middle East issues. “It’s been a gradual move, and it’s very striking right now.”
Kushner declined to comment on his change in focus, but his allies in the White House say he sees no reason to involve himself as extensively in international issues now that the State Department is run by Pompeo, whom he sees as far more competent than his predecessor, Rex Tillerson. They also pointed to the fact that Trump’s national security team now includes many Kushner allies, like O’Brien and Brian Hook, the special representative for Iran who has also worked with Kushner on the peace process.
Kushner’s status as a member of the president’s family has also made it possible for him to choose the moments and issues where his role is visible.
He played a critical role in persuading Trump to support a criminal justice overhaul, which he has also promoted as a way to help Trump win over African American voters.
But he has never unveiled a peace plan whose delivery date has been delayed indefinitely. And with Israel in its own political limbo, the expectations that Kushner’s plan would form the basis of a deal are low.
In recent months, Kushner has been directing the construction of the president’s wall along the southern border, telling associates he has a timetable for getting a portion completed by the election and holding regular meetings with status updates on how much mileage has been built. Kushner’s wresting of control over the issue has generated criticism from some administration officials, who said he dives into other people’s policy areas with abandon and little foresight.
Among Trump critics, Kushner’s many roles have not instilled confidence.
“It seems like he just bounces around based on whatever issue intrigues him at any given moment, without regard for his past track record, or inexperience on any given issue,” said Brian Fallon, Hillary Clinton’s spokesman during her 2016 campaign against Trump.