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| The Quiet Fixer in Donald Trump’s Campaign? His Son-in-Law, Jared Kushner | The Quiet Fixer in Donald Trump’s Campaign? His Son-in-Law, Jared Kushner |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| International diplomacy is a world of careful rituals, hierarchy and credentials. But when the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, wanted to communicate with Donald J. Trump, he ended up on two occasions in the Manhattan office of a young man with no government experience, no political background and no official title in the Trump campaign: Jared Kushner. | International diplomacy is a world of careful rituals, hierarchy and credentials. But when the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, wanted to communicate with Donald J. Trump, he ended up on two occasions in the Manhattan office of a young man with no government experience, no political background and no official title in the Trump campaign: Jared Kushner. |
| Mr. Kushner held court at length with Mr. Dermer, doing his best to engage in the same sort of high-level conversation that the ambassador conducted with career diplomats and policy experts from Hillary Clinton’s campaign. | Mr. Kushner held court at length with Mr. Dermer, doing his best to engage in the same sort of high-level conversation that the ambassador conducted with career diplomats and policy experts from Hillary Clinton’s campaign. |
| A 35-year-old real estate developer, investor and newspaper publisher, Mr. Kushner derives his authority in the campaign not from a traditional résumé but from a marital vow. He is Mr. Trump’s son-in-law. | A 35-year-old real estate developer, investor and newspaper publisher, Mr. Kushner derives his authority in the campaign not from a traditional résumé but from a marital vow. He is Mr. Trump’s son-in-law. |
| Yet in a gradual but unmistakable fashion, Mr. Kushner has become involved in virtually every facet of the Trump presidential operation, so much so that many inside and out of it increasingly see him as a de facto campaign manager. Mr. Kushner, who is married to Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka, helped recruit a sorely needed director of communications, oversaw the creation of an online fund-raising system and has had a hand in drafting Mr. Trump’s few policy speeches. And now that Mr. Trump has secured the Republican nomination, Mr. Kushner is counseling his father-in-law on the selection of a running mate. | Yet in a gradual but unmistakable fashion, Mr. Kushner has become involved in virtually every facet of the Trump presidential operation, so much so that many inside and out of it increasingly see him as a de facto campaign manager. Mr. Kushner, who is married to Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka, helped recruit a sorely needed director of communications, oversaw the creation of an online fund-raising system and has had a hand in drafting Mr. Trump’s few policy speeches. And now that Mr. Trump has secured the Republican nomination, Mr. Kushner is counseling his father-in-law on the selection of a running mate. |
| It is a new and unlikely role for Mr. Kushner, a conspicuously polite Harvard graduate whose prominent New Jersey family bankrolled Democrats for decades and whose father’s reputation was destroyed, in a highly public and humiliating manner, by his involvement in electoral politics. | It is a new and unlikely role for Mr. Kushner, a conspicuously polite Harvard graduate whose prominent New Jersey family bankrolled Democrats for decades and whose father’s reputation was destroyed, in a highly public and humiliating manner, by his involvement in electoral politics. |
| Now, in a Shakespearean turn, Mr. Kushner is working side by side with the former federal prosecutor who put his father, Charles Kushner, in prison just over 10 years ago: Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, whom Mr. Trump named as a top adviser. Mr. Kushner originally voiced objections to Mr. Trump about the appointment, but Mr. Kushner and Mr. Christie have since become wary allies in seeking to impose greater discipline on Mr. Trump’s unconventional campaign. | Now, in a Shakespearean turn, Mr. Kushner is working side by side with the former federal prosecutor who put his father, Charles Kushner, in prison just over 10 years ago: Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, whom Mr. Trump named as a top adviser. Mr. Kushner originally voiced objections to Mr. Trump about the appointment, but Mr. Kushner and Mr. Christie have since become wary allies in seeking to impose greater discipline on Mr. Trump’s unconventional campaign. |
| Much about the Trump candidacy seems at odds with Mr. Kushner’s personality and biography: An Orthodox Jew and grandson of Holocaust survivors, Mr. Kushner is now at the center of a campaign that has been embraced by white nationalists and anti-Semites. | Much about the Trump candidacy seems at odds with Mr. Kushner’s personality and biography: An Orthodox Jew and grandson of Holocaust survivors, Mr. Kushner is now at the center of a campaign that has been embraced by white nationalists and anti-Semites. |
| Mr. Kushner’s friends say he has expressed no concern to them about his father-in-law’s behavior. On Saturday, Mr. Trump created a firestorm after posting an image on Twitter featuring a picture of Mrs. Clinton with six-pointed star and a pile of cash, which had previously appeared on a website known for anti-Semitism. (On Monday, Mr. Trump said on Twitter that it was not a Star of David, but a sheriff’s or a plain star.) Mr. Kushner believes that his father-in-law’s respect for his Jewish faith is sincere, his friends said, and that the issue is not worth addressing. | Mr. Kushner’s friends say he has expressed no concern to them about his father-in-law’s behavior. On Saturday, Mr. Trump created a firestorm after posting an image on Twitter featuring a picture of Mrs. Clinton with six-pointed star and a pile of cash, which had previously appeared on a website known for anti-Semitism. (On Monday, Mr. Trump said on Twitter that it was not a Star of David, but a sheriff’s or a plain star.) Mr. Kushner believes that his father-in-law’s respect for his Jewish faith is sincere, his friends said, and that the issue is not worth addressing. |
| Mr. Kushner’s role was described in more than two dozen interviews with friends, colleagues and campaign staff members, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could disclose interactions that were supposed to remain private. Mr. Kushner declined to be interviewed. | Mr. Kushner’s role was described in more than two dozen interviews with friends, colleagues and campaign staff members, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could disclose interactions that were supposed to remain private. Mr. Kushner declined to be interviewed. |
| In many ways, he has filled a vacuum in a startlingly small organization that has had no official manager since the June ouster of Corey Lewandowski, which Mr. Kushner advocated, and that has fallen far behind in building a 50-state campaign. But his real power, his friends said, stems from his close relationship with Mr. Trump, who has long preferred the advice of family over political professionals and who sees in Mr. Kushner a younger version of himself. | In many ways, he has filled a vacuum in a startlingly small organization that has had no official manager since the June ouster of Corey Lewandowski, which Mr. Kushner advocated, and that has fallen far behind in building a 50-state campaign. But his real power, his friends said, stems from his close relationship with Mr. Trump, who has long preferred the advice of family over political professionals and who sees in Mr. Kushner a younger version of himself. |
| “Jared is an amazing son-in-law, and we are very close,” Mr. Trump said in a statement, describing him as “a big and bold thinker.” | “Jared is an amazing son-in-law, and we are very close,” Mr. Trump said in a statement, describing him as “a big and bold thinker.” |
| For both men — the privileged sons of quick-tempered and domineering real estate tycoons — the legacies of their fathers loom large. More than 30 years after Mr. Trump took command of the Trump Organization and built the Grand Hyatt Hotel and Trump Tower, Mr. Kushner tapped his own family empire, Kushner Companies, to buy a Fifth Avenue skyscraper and become part owner of a giant office complex near the Brooklyn waterfront. | For both men — the privileged sons of quick-tempered and domineering real estate tycoons — the legacies of their fathers loom large. More than 30 years after Mr. Trump took command of the Trump Organization and built the Grand Hyatt Hotel and Trump Tower, Mr. Kushner tapped his own family empire, Kushner Companies, to buy a Fifth Avenue skyscraper and become part owner of a giant office complex near the Brooklyn waterfront. |
| “My father looked at the deals Jared was doing and saw himself in those deals,” Ms. Trump said. | “My father looked at the deals Jared was doing and saw himself in those deals,” Ms. Trump said. |
| But the parallels end there. Mr. Trump came to Manhattan to outstrip his father’s success; Mr. Kushner was seeking to redeem his family’s tarnished name. | But the parallels end there. Mr. Trump came to Manhattan to outstrip his father’s success; Mr. Kushner was seeking to redeem his family’s tarnished name. |
| The elder Mr. Kushner built the family’s real estate business into a multibillion-dollar empire of apartments and land until he was sent to federal prison in 2005 for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign donations, many of them to Democratic candidates. | The elder Mr. Kushner built the family’s real estate business into a multibillion-dollar empire of apartments and land until he was sent to federal prison in 2005 for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign donations, many of them to Democratic candidates. |
| The case involved a traumatic and tawdry family feud: At one point, Charles Kushner sought to retaliate against his brother-in-law, who was cooperating with the federal authorities, by hiring a woman to seduce him and videotape the encounter. “Vile and heinous” was how Mr. Christie, then the United States attorney for New Jersey, described the conduct. | The case involved a traumatic and tawdry family feud: At one point, Charles Kushner sought to retaliate against his brother-in-law, who was cooperating with the federal authorities, by hiring a woman to seduce him and videotape the encounter. “Vile and heinous” was how Mr. Christie, then the United States attorney for New Jersey, described the conduct. |
| Almost overnight, Mr. Kushner, 24 years old and still a student at law school, became the public face of the family business. On weekdays, he toured construction sites; on weekends, he flew to Alabama to visit his father in prison. The two remain exceedingly close: For years, Mr. Kushner used a wallet that his father had made in prison. | Almost overnight, Mr. Kushner, 24 years old and still a student at law school, became the public face of the family business. On weekdays, he toured construction sites; on weekends, he flew to Alabama to visit his father in prison. The two remain exceedingly close: For years, Mr. Kushner used a wallet that his father had made in prison. |
| Mr. Kushner does not like to talk about his father’s travails, but they plainly left a mark on him. At his son’s recent bris, he spoke of his wish for the newborn: “May life be hard enough that you grow, but not so hard that you break.” | Mr. Kushner does not like to talk about his father’s travails, but they plainly left a mark on him. At his son’s recent bris, he spoke of his wish for the newborn: “May life be hard enough that you grow, but not so hard that you break.” |
| In 2006, with the family’s wounds from the scandal still fresh, Mr. Kushner bought The New York Observer, a small newspaper aimed at the city’s social, political and real estate elite. A stranger to the culture of a publication that delighted in needling the rich and powerful, he initially floundered as a publisher, alienating reporters and cycling through a series of editors before landing on an old friend of the Kushner family, Ken Kurson. In April, the newspaper, which under its previous ownership made a sport of mocking Mr. Trump, enthusiastically endorsed his presidential bid. | In 2006, with the family’s wounds from the scandal still fresh, Mr. Kushner bought The New York Observer, a small newspaper aimed at the city’s social, political and real estate elite. A stranger to the culture of a publication that delighted in needling the rich and powerful, he initially floundered as a publisher, alienating reporters and cycling through a series of editors before landing on an old friend of the Kushner family, Ken Kurson. In April, the newspaper, which under its previous ownership made a sport of mocking Mr. Trump, enthusiastically endorsed his presidential bid. |
| Mr. Kushner has described his time on the campaign trail with the wide-eyed wonder of a political neophyte. “You have to see this,” he told his wife after returning from a Trump rally last year in Springfield, Ill. | Mr. Kushner has described his time on the campaign trail with the wide-eyed wonder of a political neophyte. “You have to see this,” he told his wife after returning from a Trump rally last year in Springfield, Ill. |
| For months, he was more loyal son-in-law than campaign operative, his role mainly confined to standing alongside the candidate and making calls to potential advisers and donors. | For months, he was more loyal son-in-law than campaign operative, his role mainly confined to standing alongside the candidate and making calls to potential advisers and donors. |
| It was in March, after Mr. Trump inflamed Jewish leaders with an improvised vow to remain “neutral” in dealings with Israel and Palestinians, that Mr. Kushner emerged as an unchallenged force in the campaign. | It was in March, after Mr. Trump inflamed Jewish leaders with an improvised vow to remain “neutral” in dealings with Israel and Palestinians, that Mr. Kushner emerged as an unchallenged force in the campaign. |
| He worked the phones to placate angry Republicans and urged Mr. Trump to deliver a pre-written, unequivocally pro-Israel speech in front of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the influential lobbying group known as Aipac. Mr. Kushner even solicited advice from Mr. Kurson, the Observer editor. | He worked the phones to placate angry Republicans and urged Mr. Trump to deliver a pre-written, unequivocally pro-Israel speech in front of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the influential lobbying group known as Aipac. Mr. Kushner even solicited advice from Mr. Kurson, the Observer editor. |
| Mr. Kushner’s first major foray into foreign policy did not go off without a hitch. At one point in the speech, Mr. Trump mocked President Obama, prompting Aipac to condemn those remarks. Mr. Kushner was furious at the group, but in the eyes of Mr. Trump, it had been a success. | Mr. Kushner’s first major foray into foreign policy did not go off without a hitch. At one point in the speech, Mr. Trump mocked President Obama, prompting Aipac to condemn those remarks. Mr. Kushner was furious at the group, but in the eyes of Mr. Trump, it had been a success. |
| Mr. Kushner seems to relish the privileges that his status as Mr. Trump’s son-in-law carries. In May, when Mr. Trump met with Henry A. Kissinger, the former secretary of state, Mr. Kushner tagged along. | Mr. Kushner seems to relish the privileges that his status as Mr. Trump’s son-in-law carries. In May, when Mr. Trump met with Henry A. Kissinger, the former secretary of state, Mr. Kushner tagged along. |
| No detail seems too small. Mr. Kushner has become involved in curating videos on Mr. Trump’s Facebook page, reviewing programming for the Republican convention and retooling the online store where Trump hats, T-shirts and mugs are sold. | No detail seems too small. Mr. Kushner has become involved in curating videos on Mr. Trump’s Facebook page, reviewing programming for the Republican convention and retooling the online store where Trump hats, T-shirts and mugs are sold. |
| Donors, policy experts and Republican leaders regularly reach out to him as a gatekeeper to the candidate. And with increasing frequency, Mr. Trump turns to Mr. Kushner throughout the day for feedback. | Donors, policy experts and Republican leaders regularly reach out to him as a gatekeeper to the candidate. And with increasing frequency, Mr. Trump turns to Mr. Kushner throughout the day for feedback. |
| “I’ve been with Jared and the phone will ring, and it will be Trump soliciting Jared’s opinion,” Mr. Kurson said. | “I’ve been with Jared and the phone will ring, and it will be Trump soliciting Jared’s opinion,” Mr. Kurson said. |
| Mr. Kushner does not always wait for Mr. Trump to call. He pushed behind the scenes, along with Mr. Trump’s three oldest children, for the dismissal of Mr. Lewandowski, a polarizing figure who had overseen Mr. Trump’s primary campaign and begun to see Mr. Kushner as an internal rival. | Mr. Kushner does not always wait for Mr. Trump to call. He pushed behind the scenes, along with Mr. Trump’s three oldest children, for the dismissal of Mr. Lewandowski, a polarizing figure who had overseen Mr. Trump’s primary campaign and begun to see Mr. Kushner as an internal rival. |
| Unlike his father-in-law, with his seemingly bottomless appetite for conflict, Mr. Kushner is, by all accounts, soft-spoken and restrained. In the midst of a difficult real estate negotiation a few years ago, the Swatch-wearing Mr. Kushner playfully proposed an unconventional solution to a standoff: an arm-wrestling match. | Unlike his father-in-law, with his seemingly bottomless appetite for conflict, Mr. Kushner is, by all accounts, soft-spoken and restrained. In the midst of a difficult real estate negotiation a few years ago, the Swatch-wearing Mr. Kushner playfully proposed an unconventional solution to a standoff: an arm-wrestling match. |
| “It was such a simple way to resolve a conflict when the conflict didn’t need to be there in the first place,” said his counterpart in the negotiation, Adam Neumann, a founder of WeWork, which provides shared work spaces to entrepreneurs. | “It was such a simple way to resolve a conflict when the conflict didn’t need to be there in the first place,” said his counterpart in the negotiation, Adam Neumann, a founder of WeWork, which provides shared work spaces to entrepreneurs. |
| Mr. Kushner lost. | Mr. Kushner lost. |
| He is, Mr. Neumann said, “the opposite of a traditional New York developer.” | He is, Mr. Neumann said, “the opposite of a traditional New York developer.” |
| But not entirely. Mr. Kushner, whose dimpled cheeks and baby face are a fixture of society pages, has embraced the trappings of a mogul. He moved with his wife into a penthouse of a Trump-branded tower on Park Avenue and courted the friendship of Rupert Murdoch, the founder of Fox News, whose young daughters were flower girls at Mr. Kushner’s wedding to Ms. Trump. | But not entirely. Mr. Kushner, whose dimpled cheeks and baby face are a fixture of society pages, has embraced the trappings of a mogul. He moved with his wife into a penthouse of a Trump-branded tower on Park Avenue and courted the friendship of Rupert Murdoch, the founder of Fox News, whose young daughters were flower girls at Mr. Kushner’s wedding to Ms. Trump. |
| But for Mr. Kushner, an awkward reality remains: Many of his friends and co-workers are socially liberal Democrats who are horrified by the Trump campaign. The topic is more or less off limits at Mr. Kushner’s company, people who have spent time there said, and old friends said they avoided it in Mr. Kushner’s presence. | |
| “There is no purpose in discussing it,” said Joel I. Klein, the former New York City Schools chancellor who socializes with Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump. As a Hillary Clinton supporter, Mr. Klein said, “We leave this piece alone.” | |
| The skepticism and disapproval from his peers appear to have hardened Mr. Kushner’s resolve. Friends who have spoken with him said he felt vindicated by Mr. Trump’s improbable electoral success, playing down doubts about his strategy and expressing admiration for his political acumen. | The skepticism and disapproval from his peers appear to have hardened Mr. Kushner’s resolve. Friends who have spoken with him said he felt vindicated by Mr. Trump’s improbable electoral success, playing down doubts about his strategy and expressing admiration for his political acumen. |
| Now, between flights with Mr. Trump and the flurry of campaign calls and meetings, Mr. Kushner is devoting far less time to his real estate empire. | Now, between flights with Mr. Trump and the flurry of campaign calls and meetings, Mr. Kushner is devoting far less time to his real estate empire. |
| His father-in-law, whose own eyes have been known to drift away from real estate, seems to approve. | His father-in-law, whose own eyes have been known to drift away from real estate, seems to approve. |
| “Despite his great business success,” Mr. Trump said in a statement, “he has the right priorities — family first.” | “Despite his great business success,” Mr. Trump said in a statement, “he has the right priorities — family first.” |