White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner has reportedly been sidelined for President Trump’s trip to China in November — the latest indicator that Kushner’s role is being reduced.
Politico reports that Kushner, who once played a lead role as Trump’s chief diplomatic contact for China, will now only be present on the first leg of Trump’s Asia tour — a trip that will last 12 days and includes Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. Instead, other aides and Cabinet officials will play more prominent roles than Kushner.
The outlet reports that some are seeing the diminished role as a sign of White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly’s increasing influence and attempt to formalize a structure — one that avoids giving unnecessary prominence to Trump’s family members (Kushner is also Trump’s son-in-law).
Instead, Politico reports that “National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross are expected to serve as the main faces of a trip that will focus primarily on the North Korean nuclear threat and trade issues.”
One administration official said that Kushner is there because he was the person in contact with the Chinese since the transition, meaning his role could be even more diminished going forward.
Axios reported this month that Kushner and Ivanka Trump are looking to scale back their roles at the White House and are attempting to “stay in their line” in the wake of numerous reports that they have upset top officials with their presence, as well as their terrible advice.
Kushner, in particular, is believed to be behind two of arguably the worst decisions so far during Trump’s presidency — the firing of FBI Director James Comey and the decision to back the doomed Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in the Republican Senate primary in Alabama.
It also comes after increased scrutiny about Kushner’s use of private email addresses for White House business, use that has sparked the interest of House and Senate committees. Kushner is also believed to be a key person of interest for FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller as he investigates alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election — particularly Kushner’s role in a controversial 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer.
However, despite the scrutiny and scaling back of roles, Kushner and Ivanka Trump have continued to hold “bipartisan” dinners at their home, including a number of red state Democrats on subjects such as tax reform and criminal justice reform.
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.