President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner has reportedly hired top Hollywood public relations executive Josh Raffel to take a key role at the White House.
Raffel — the 32-year-old communications chief for horror production company Blumhouse Productions (The Purge, Insidious) and a veteran of New York City-based PR firm Hiltzik Strategies — will reportedly join the White House Office of American Innovation, according to Variety.
The outlet notes that Raffel is well-respected among entertainment industry journalists for his “sane, sensible style, and his wit.”
The Washington Post reported in March that Kushner had been tasked with overseeing the Office of American Innovation, a new White House office that will reportedly be focused on overhauling the federal bureaucracy by taking ideas from the business world and applying them to government. The office will reportedly be staffed by former business leaders and will report directly to President Trump. Among the notable names in the business world who have already participated in meetings are Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
“We should have excellence in government,” Kushner told the Post last month. “The government should be run like a great American company. Our hope is that we can achieve successes and efficiencies for our customers, who are the citizens.”
Raffel will reportedly move to Washington, D.C. to begin his new job in the coming weeks. He will be replaced at Blumhouse by former Universal Filmed Entertainment Group spokeswoman Teri Everett.
Kushner has quietly become a major force in the Trump administration, as the president has entrusted the young advisor with duties ranging from negotiating a potential Israel-Palestinian peace deal to maintaining a healthy diplomatic relationship with Mexico.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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