Jared Kushner
Jared, you sly devil. It's time we examine the prodigal son-in-law and senior advisor to the president.
Kushner was born and raised in New Jersey, the eldest son of real estate mogul Charles Kushner. Raised in a Jewish family, Kushner graduated from a yeshiva high school as an adequate student. When he was a senior in high school, his father donated $2.5 million to Harvard. Where did young Jared matriculate that fall? You guessed it.
At Harvard, he was a member of the Fly Club, an exclusive fraternity unique to Harvard where he rubbed shoulders with sons of other wealthy families and wore tuxedos far more often than any normal human should. He then went on to attend NYU where he received his JD/MBA.
In 2005, he met Ivanka Trump. The pair were married in 2009 and have three children, who they are raising in a Jewish home after Ivanka converted.
In the Know
Kushner has often been referred to as a confidant of Trump's. He was given the lofty title of "Senior Adviser" to the President, though what he advises on remains unclear. During the campaign, he was credited with helping maintain Trump's digital presence. Amidst some of the accusations that the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia, Kushner privately remarked that the Trump campaign was too disorganized to have done so, remarking, "We couldn't even collude with our local offices."
2017 Headlines
Amidst some of the accusations that the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia, Kushner privately remarked that the Trump campaign was too disorganized to have done so, saying, "We couldn't even collude with our local offices." Kushner was at the notorious "adoption meeting" along with Paul Manafort and Don Jr. You remember - the one where they were promised dirt on Hillary but supposedly then discussed adoption sanctions resulting from the Magnitsky Act. For more on that, click here.
After speculation about Kushner's involvement with the Russia meeting, he released a statement in which he said "I am not a person who has sought the spotlight. First in my business and now in public service, I have worked on achieving goals, and have left it to others to work on media and public perception." Marrying Ivanka Trump, living an overtly lavish lifestyle, appearing on Gossip Girl, his dad paying for him to get in to Harvard - things people who don't crave the spotlight and work on achieving goals do. He went on to say that, despite two reported phone calls with Russian ambassador Kislyak, he does not recall them. He also said that he was asked by Don Jr. to attend the Russia meeting but did not know that the meeting would be with any Russian affiliates - evidently he didn't read the email in full. He said, "When I got there, the person who has since been identified as a Russian attorney was talking about the issue of a ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian children. I had no idea why that topic was being raised and quickly determined that my time was not well-spent at this meeting."
Kushner has apparently been tasked with Middle East peace dealings, though he does not seem to have taken any substantial actions to advance this mission. He made a trip in June to discuss peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine and supposedly has an upcoming trip to meet with multiple leaders of Middle East nations. The meeting will purportedly be to discuss "resolving the impediments to peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, but will also cover combating extremism, the official said."
Fun Fact
While at Harvard, Jared got his feet wet in real estate by buying property and renting it out in Somerville, the town over from Cambridge, MA. He was not always everyone's favorite landlord. Nothing like a Lacoste-sporting heir coming to collect rent from the working class to really make your day.