Arguably one of President Trump’s most destructive moves in the wake of his historic victory a year ago was to install his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner as key advisors in the West Wing.
The apparently different worldview has clashed with that of Trump’s base on a number of occasions, as well as a number of stumbles by the pair who are reportedly known within the West Wing as “the royal family.”
With Kushner’s influence reportedly waning, these seven will make you thankful “Javanka” are falling, not rising in influence in the Trump White House.
Here are some of their worst moments:
Jared Urges Trump to Fire FBI Director James Comey
Kushner, who carries the title of “senior adviser,” was reportedly one of the key voices in pushing for Trump to fire FBI Director James Comey in May. While Comey was no friend of the Trump administration and was known for his showboating and love of the spotlight, Comey’s firing led to the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel for the investigation into alleged Russian interference.
Breitbart News Executive Chairman and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon called it the biggest mistake in modern political history.
Mueller, in turn, has taken a broad interpretation of his mandate for the investigation, and negative headlines have dogged the administration for months. Last month three former Trump aides were indicted, including former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Ivanka and Jared “Blindsided” by Trump’s Transgender Ban
Social conservatives cheered when President Trump announced in July that he was banning transgender-identifying individuals from serving in the military. But Kushner and Ivanka, two socially-liberal Manhattanites were reportedly “blindsided” by the move, according to Politico.
The outlet reported that Ms. Trump was “surprised” and first learned of the news when she read it on her cell phone. It was not clear how the inner thoughts of Ms. Trump found their way onto the website of the left-wing outlet.
Ivanka Fails to Shift Trump on Paris
The liberal first daughter was believed to be a staunch supporter of the Obama-era Paris climate change agreement and fought to keep the U.S. in the job-killing deal. According to Politico, Ivanka brought Democrat climate-change peddler Al Gore into Trump Tower to talk it out with her dad and met with former Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio to get his opinion on the topic.
Despite telling friends that she was choosing that issue to push her father on, she failed and Trump announced his intention to ditch the deal. Neither Ivanka nor Jared were present at the announcement.
‘Sources’ Gripe to New York Times About Trump’s Stance on Virginia
After violent protests in August by white nationalists and neo-Nazis, as well as counter-protests from so-called “anti-fascists”, in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump condemned both sides of the protests.
Apparently, Trump’s stance upset not only the left-wing media but Jared and Ivanka. It didn’t take long before the New York Times’ Glenn Thrush cited “sources” that said Jared and Ivanka had called on Trump “to more forcefully denounce” the white nationalists. Seen as the latest in a long line of media leaks that cited either anonymous sources of “sources close to Jared and Ivanka,” it was quickly mocked as a clumsy leak by the “royal family” to distance themselves from the president.
Jared Gets Upset When Trump ‘Undermines’ Him in Mexico
When Trump canceled a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in January over Nieto’s refusal to pay for the border wall, it somehow leaked to the media that Kushner was “furious” that his efforts were being “undermined.”
“Kushner was fucking furious,” an anonymous source told Vanity Fair. “I’d never once heard him say he was angry throughout the entire campaign. But he was furious.”
Jared Encourages Trump to back Luther Strange in Alabama
When the establishment-backed Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) went up against the outsider, “America First” Judge Roy Moore, one may have expected Trump to back Moore. Instead, he backed the doomed candidate backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
But according to Politico, it was Kushner who made the push to persuade Trump to back him. “Trump was encouraged to pick Strange before the August primary by son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner as well as other aides,” the outlet reported.
Trump had seemed to recognize he had made a bad decision even before a ballot was cast, telling a crowd in Huntsville: “I might have made a mistake” in endorsing Strange. He also promised to campaign for Moore if he won.
Jared and Ivanka Work to Kill LGBT Rights Order
In February, Politico (an outlet who regularly snags the inner machinations of the Kushner/Ivanka machine) reported that the pair helped kill off an order that would have overturned a 2014 Obama-era executive order preventing LGBT discrimination in the workplace.
Once again, “sources close to Kushner and Ivanka Trump” were cited for the information indicating their preference for a “clear statement” upholding the Obama-era order.
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.
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