Jared Kushner visits Iraq with Joint Chiefs chairman
Trump’s son-in-law meets Iraqi leaders, U.S. troops
Baghdad (AP) — President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, flew to Iraq with the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford on Monday.
Kushner’s travel plans initially were revealed late Sunday by a Trump administration official who said Kushner wanted to see the situation there for himself and show support for Baghdad’s government.
The official said Kushner had already arrived. But when presented with information indicating that was not accurate, the official said the timing of his arrival was unclear but confirmed that Kushner was scheduled to be in Iraq Monday. Such visits from high-ranking officials are typically kept secret out of security concerns.
The administration official who provided the information late Sunday wasn’t authorized to speak about confidential meetings by name and demanded anonymity.
Kushner’s arrival in mid-afternoon Monday, local time, with Dunford and Thomas P. Bossert, a presidential assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, was announced by Capt. Greg Hicks, a spokesman for Dunford.
“Gen. Dunford invited Mr. Kushner and Mr. Bossert to meet with Iraqi leaders, senior U.S. advisors, and visit with U.S. forces in the field to receive an update on the status of the counter-ISIS (an acronym for the Islamic State group) campaign in Iraq and Syria,” Hicks said. The spokesman added that Kushner was “traveling on behalf of the president to express the president’s support and commitment to the Government of Iraq and U.S. personnel currently engaged in the campaign.”
Kushner’s West Wing portfolio is robust. He has been deeply involved with presidential staffing, recently launched a task force meant to modernize government using lessons drawn from the private sector, and has played the role of shadow diplomat, advising on relations with the Middle East, Canada and Mexico.
And though Kushner had no previous diplomatic or government experience, Trump also tasked him with trying to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.