President Trump is becoming “frustrated” with his son-in-law, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, over a series of negative news stories, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said Friday.
In an appearance on CNN’s “New Day,” Haberman was asked to explain a Times report Thursday that said Trump has privately asked chief of staff John Kelly to help move Kushner and his wife, senior adviser Ivanka Trump, out of the White House.
Haberman said President Trump has been “all over the place” with his comments on the White House roles of his daughter and Kushner.
{mosads}“He is ambivalent about whether [having them work in the White House] is a good thing or a bad thing,” Haberman said. “Several months ago … he had been looking at having them leave [the White House], particularly Jared Kushner. This is less about Ivanka Trump; it’s primarily about Jared.”
Haberman said Trump has repeatedly told aides that his daughter only receives “bad press” because of Kushner and that he sees negative stories about Kushner as an extension of attacks on him.
But Haberman said Trump has become “frustrated” with the negative press Kushner is receiving.
“He goes back and forth between feeling bad about what has happened and being irritated by the fact that Jared Kushner has become a liability of sorts in his own right,” she said. “He will talk about how ‘Jared’s getting killed, Jared’s getting killed,’ and he’s not always saying it with any sense of self-reflection or, ‘this is an extension of how they’re looking at me.’”
“Trump does not like when people attract negative headlines that could be a problem for him. And now he has a member of his extended family getting that in droves.”
White House aides told the Times that, while Trump has told both Ivanka Trump and Kushner that they should continue in their White House roles, he has privately asked for Kelly’s help in getting them out of the White House.
Two people familiar with Trump’s thinking told the Times that he is frustrated with Kushner and the controversies surrounding him, including the downgrading of his security clearance over issues with his background check and special counsel Robert Mueller’s reported interest in his business dealings.
Axios reported Wednesday that members of Trump’s family, particularly Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., are furious with Kelly and believe he is allowing Kushner to be exposed to political attacks.
Kelly said last week that he has confidence in Kushner’s ability to do his job, despite Kushner having his top-secret security clearance downgraded.
The Times reported in May that Kushner has told friends he and his wife do not have permanent plans to stay in Washington and would review whether they wanted to stay in D.C. every six months.