In #Trump's negotiations with Mexico two weeks ago, the Washington Post reported that it was jared kushner, 36, the Presidents Elect's son-in-law, and once a Democrat, who persuaded Trump to soften his language around Mexico.
Of course, the president didn't listen, going off on his own rant and alienating the Mexican prime minister – and then frustrating #Kushner. But insiders are saying that Kushner has become a first point of contact for presidents, ministers and ambassadors from over 20 countries.
Shadow secretary of state
Some are comparing him to a shadow #secretary of state, one that operates without the checks and balances of the State Department.
Which is interesting, given that his father used to be a hefty Democrat donor.
According to a New York Times report last week, his main ambition is to help broker peace in the #Middle East – a task that Trump has publicly given him. Plenty of power brokers who have communicated with him have said that they like his style: he is a good listener and a considerate go-between who swiftly perceives the underlying issue and has the ability to create meetings with the rest of the administration
Along with Ivanka Trump, Kushner holds many strong relationships with people of wealth and political power across both sides of congress. Ivanka even once hosted a Democratic fundraiser in her home. These two liberals from New York have been settling into a heavily conservative milieu in Washington unlike anything they've witnessed in New York.
And the question rises – are they Democrats in Republicans' clothing?
As two of the most influential social liberals in the White House inner circle, last week Ivanka and Kushner helped to bin a planned executive order that aimed to overturn the Obama-era L.G.B.T. protections.
Bipartisan style
They exert considerable influence on Trump and were major shapers of the campaign.
But as New York social liberals who were schooled amidst open-minded power brokers from the left, and with friends from close inside the Clinton campaign (hello #Chelsea Clinton), the question of bipartisan style has been continually raised.
Trump himself, once a Democrat, holds this paradox within his presidency too. He's an urbane New Yorker who has worked in an industry and city where sexual preference isn't held front and center.
Trump's sexual indiscretions and outrageous transgressions have been willfully deleted by many of those who supported him. But he is now beholden to social conservatives like Steve Bannon and VP Mike Pence.
Donald Trump himself was quoted as saying "In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat," to CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a 2004 interview (no surprises that this was quoted all throughout the election cycle).
“Everyone is trying to get to know #Jared Kushner,” the New York Times reported an ambassador from a US ally saying. Maybe this is because he is more level headed and easier to communicate with than Trump. Perhaps it's also because he has the chameleon-like ability to understand both Democratic and Republican agendas.
