Donald Trump Son-in-Law Jared Kushner Has Not Applied for White House Role, Adviser Says
Trump is working out of Trump Tower to build his White House team.
— -- Jared Kushner has not applied for a role in the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, nor has he applied for security clearance, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said today.
“He has not applied for anything formally and I just think many of these press reports are false and inaccurate,” Conway, Trump's former campaign manager, said on “Good Morning America.” “I would just call on everybody to just give us a little bit of time to form our federal government, get those appointments in place and respect the election results and allow this man to do his job.”
Kushner, 35, has been married to Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, since 2009. He has been a close adviser to Trump and a mainstay at the Trump Tower while the transition teams maps out next year's administration.
Conway said Kushner, who inherited a real estate fortune like Trump, is taking into consideration his business responsibilities in New York City as well as the three small children he and Ivanka are raising.
“He will continue to be very important to his father-in-law, who just happens to be the next president,” Conway said. “Jared was incredibly important to our campaign effort and to the election.”
She added, “He’s a trusted adviser of his father-in-law. That won’t change.”
It was announced last week that Vice President-elect Mike Pence had been chosen to lead the Trump transition team, replacing New jersey Gov. Chris Christie as chair.
Trump has named former Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his White House chief of staff and Steve Bannon, Trump campaign CEO and executive chairman of Breitbart News, as his chief strategist and senior counselor.
Ethics chiefs for both President Obama and former president George W. Bush have questioned the legality of having Kushner in a top White House role. Conway said that family members are important to every president, including the Bush family.
“I know the Bush sons were very involved in their father’s administration,” she said, referring specifically to former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “One became president of the United States and they both became governors.”
Conway said she is also considering a job in the Trump White House, but weighing it with her family obligations.
“I may,” she said of a possible White House role. “[But] I didn’t see mother of four small children in any of the job descriptions that I checked out.”
Working With Democrats
Senate Democrats, including newly elected Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have said they can build bipartisan coalitions if Trump focuses on issues like reforming trade bills, paid maternity leave and infrastructure.
Conway said “yes” when asked whether that is the direction Trump will take once in office.
“We’re thrilled to hear that,” she said of the senators’ willingness to work together. “Donald Trump made very clear what his 100-day plan would be. Everyone could pull it up and see and I assume those senators have done that.”
Conway listed job creation, infrastructure, energy investments, a “different direction” for health care, immigration reform and defeating radical Islamic terrorism as highlights from Trump’s 100-day plan.
Conway pointed to the meeting Wednesday between Vice President Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Mike Pence as an example of a “spirit of cooperation.”
She also asked again for patience in allowing the Trump transition team to put an administration in place.
“We don’t really want to rush through these decisions,” she said. “It takes some time to get it right.”