Kushner may be President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, but he also commands a sprawling empire of his own. Not only does Kushner oversee the Office of American Innovation, a veritable government-within-the government that helps him manage his seemingly limitless portfolio, which extends from negotiating peace in the Middle East to resolving the country’s opioid crisis, but he is also a pillar in the so-called globalist wing of the White House.
.. Kushner and Ivanka have repeatedly said that they left their lucrative, comfortable lives in New York to move to Washington and serve in the White House in order to make sure their father was the most successful president he could be. None of them probably anticipated that the administration would be mired, stalled, and crippled by a criminal investigation that would call its legitimacy into question and potentially implicate the Trump family and associates. What started out as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve the country, and wield the sort of power that real-estate heirs usually could only fantasize about, quickly turned into an exercise in self-preservation.
While Kushner’s experiences running his family business and a weekly newspaper may not have prepared him to run the upper echelons of government, they did prepare him for a situation in which he would need to defend himself and cover his own behind, even if it came at the expense of his in-laws. That is something he knows how to do by heart.
Trump Discovers the Dangers of Governing at Daredevil Speed
Now the city is leaving its bruising mark on him, with the same astonishing swiftness that has been a hallmark of his lightning-strike political career.
.. all meant to disrupt American politics as usual.
.. Ten days of shocks, kicking off with Mr. Trump’s surprise ouster of James B. Comey .. have left the West Wing reeling.
.. dread of “5 o’clock,” marking the arrival of the daily dump of damaging leaks or fresh reports of staff infighting.
.. It is as if some unseen adversary has copied Mr. Trump’s own velocity and ferocity in an attempt to destroy him
.. Sources are shuttling all kinds of information about Mr. Trump to reporters at a pace the White House cannot match.
.. “Washington feels like a kiddie soccer game — tons of frenzy but no strategy,” said Senator Ben Sasse
.. members of Mr. Trump’s team are hoping to slow the tempo set by the president and his hard-charging chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon.
They have suggested that he calm down, spend less time on Twitter, and avoid making decisions too quickly.
.. Brian Ott, a Texas Tech professor who has analyzed Mr. Trump’s use of social media, said: “The velocity at which this is happening right now is absolutely unprecedented. News is breaking so fast the stories are stepping on each other.”