November 17, 2016

"Mr. Kushner is regarded as Mr. Trump’s eyes and ears inside the evolving presidential transition."

"He is weighing formally joining his father-in-law in the White House, people familiar with the transition say. The 35-year-old Mr. Kushner would have a role in the White House along the lines of senior adviser or special counsel...."
Perhaps his most important role, though, is that of son-in-law, in which he meets Mr. Trump’s need to talk shop constantly. The president-elect skips small talk, which was true even when the family left Trump Tower on Tuesday night, leaving the transition press pool behind, for a celebratory dinner at the 21 Club in Manhattan. Messrs. Trump and Kushner, along with the family, spent most of the evening discussing the president-elect’s thinking on who would be his secretaries of Treasury, Defense and other key departments, advisers said.

77 comments:

Sal said...

...Mr. Trump’s need to talk shop constantly

Wow, a workaholic in the White House. Haven't had that in awhile.

Sal said...

Not that 500 rounds of golf and practicing the latest bro handshake with JayZ isn't work.

D. B. Light said...

Eight years from now, President Kushner? First Jewish president? Could happen.

eric said...

Our media is going to be so confounded by Trump. It's going to be beautiful.

And they are going to so reflexively hate everything he does, that even when he does things they love, like kick out the special interests, theyll find a way to tell us why we need them in DC.

paminwi said...

Wow! How wonderful to have such a close relationship with your son-in-law. Everyone should be so blessed.

YoungHegelian said...

That's exactly the sort of subterfuge that a white-supremacist anti-Semite like Trump would do: appoint an Orthodox Jew as Special Counsel just to throw us off the scent! (/sarc)

madAsHell said...

Mr. Kushner, a Jew, will be persecuted by other Jews, and Trump will be called anti-semitic.
Just like Hillary won the popular vote on Tuesday night.

BigFire said...

Donald Trump look at Jared Kushner and see a younger version of himself. Kushner had to take over his father's business (after Chris Christie convicted his father) and greatly expanded into something really big.

bleh said...

I hope Trump picks Jim Webb for something. I don't agree with him on everything, but I respect and admire him for his honesty and independence. His foreign policy views also align with Trump's.

Michael K said...

a workaholic in the White House. Haven't had that in awhile.

Thanks for a laugh. I agree that Kushner is an intimate because they are similar.

I also agree about Webb.I even thought about Webb for VP back last summer.

Kushner is also Orthodox and a Zionist. He will be hated for both.

MaxedOutMama said...

I think taking all such "news" with a grain of salt might be worthwhile. It's gossip. It might have some element of truth (probably some), but that element might be so overwhelmed by nonsense that it's hard to find.

It seems to me that press is trying to wake itself and figure out how to report again, but right now it is sort of Gawker-type stuff.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

We need a new department: "Tell the pro-Democrat hack press to shove off."

Wince said...

"...spent most of the evening discussing the president-elect’s thinking on who would be his secretaries of Treasury, Defense and other key departments..."

It burns, ahhhh, it burns!

Charles said...

Mr. Kushner should definitely be granted access to the PDB as well.

traditionalguy said...

Again Trump was the winner. When his beloved Ivanka married it was the addition of a son rather than the loss of a daughter.

I Love seeing that father son connection. It demonstrates how a real God designed Family/Patriarchy works well.

Charles said...

traditionalguy:

Trump loving money, being married three times and grabbing (unmarried) pussies is hardly God's design.

YoungHegelian said...

Since the press was frozen out of the Trump family meeting at the 21 Club, we, the people, will never know if Mr. Kushner ignored his father-in-law's advice as to "Try the pork loin & the lobster bisque. They're really good here". Look at the menu. It's a kosher horror.

Seriously, what are two Orthodox Jews doing at the 21 Club? Drinking a can of Coca-Cola while everyone else eats? I'm not sure just how rigorous Mr. & Mrs (aka Ivanka) Kushner are in their observation of kashrut, but it's a tough row to hoe when you're living in a very Gentile environment.

William said...

I can see why Trump might like blood around him. Look at the way all those other candidates violated their solemn pledge to support the Republican nominee. The first person in his inner circle to resign and write a tell all book has a lucrative book deal n his future.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

YoungHegelian said...

Look at the menu. It's a kosher horror.

I'd be willing to bet anyone in Trump's party who wanted to order off-menu would be accommodated.

readering said...

So under the law Sarge Shriver couln't have been Peace Corps Director? That seems dumb.

YoungHegelian said...

@IiB,

I'd be willing to bet anyone in Trump's party who wanted to order off-menu would be accommodated.

It doesn't matter on of off. Nothing kosher is ever coming out of that kitchen! Not after what they're cooking on that menu.

dreams said...

We're so lucky to finally have some talented people running our country. We got lucky and dodged a bullet.

Michael K said...

I'm not sure just how rigorous Mr. & Mrs (aka Ivanka) Kushner are in their observation of kashrut, but it's a tough row to hoe when you're living in a very Gentile environment.

The operative phrase in your comment is " I'm not sure "

Birches said...

Perhaps they bring their own food?

People that rich have no doubt figured things out long before now.

Honestly, wondering about keeping kosher is the only thing interesting to me right now. All this speculation and gossip is becoming very boring.

holdfast said...

I would not be shocked to learn that all these contradictory leaks regarding Trump's cabinet are being propagated on orders from Pence to create fear, uncertainty and doubt in the media.

While Trump and Pence are not exactly aligned on all policy issues, they both clearly know to regard the press as an enemy to be excluded or exploited as the circumstances dictate.

holdfast said...

Easy - one of the kosher steak places in midtown would deliver a pack of food for Jared. We do this at business dinners all the time for frum clients or colleagues.

mikee said...

Every thread, there is a comment about Jim Webb (Democrat) being a wonderful choice for Donald Trump (Republican) to put into a Cabinet position.

If the Dems want to promote a Dem of no national stature, let them do it themselves. Elect Webb head of the DNC, or assign him as a DNC special prosecutor to review and publicize Hillary's wrongdoing over the past 30 years. Trump has zero obligation to support a past and likely future candidate of the Democrats, and Trump has zero obligation to let an opponent run a Cabinet office.

If Webb is so great, how come he hasn't become a Republican?

David said...

Despite the three wives and the pussy grabbing, The Donald is a family man.

Anonymous said...

BDNYC said...
I hope Trump picks Jim Webb for something. I don't agree with him on everything, but I respect and admire him for his honesty and independence.


I like Webb a lot as well. The only time I have disliked him was that petulant moment in Bush's first term when Webb was rude to Bush when Bush politely inquired about Webb's Marine son in Iraq. It may have been an honest reaction on webb's part, but it was rude.

Anonymous said...

readering said...
So under the law Sarge Shriver couln't have been Peace Corps Director?


LOL, Bobby (AG) Kennedy?

dreams said...


"I like Webb a lot as well. The only time I have disliked him was that petulant moment in Bush's first term when Webb was rude to Bush when Bush politely inquired about Webb's Marine son in Iraq. It may have been an honest reaction on webb's part, but it was rude."

Webb voted for Obamacare, enough said.

traditionalguy said...

I looked up Kushner in Wiki. He seems to be a smart man with a very good education. In his relatives list I noticed one father-in-law, Donald J.Trump. So I clicked on that name to see what wiki has to say.

It was a 10 page hit piece that was probably edited, if not written by, David Brock. It said Trump is best known as the candidate whose political statements are all made up lies.

YoungHegelian said...

@holdfast,

Easy - one of the kosher steak places in midtown would deliver a pack of food for Jared.

That'd work!

One of our Jewish friends had a 25th anniversary dinner at a local DC Jewish country club. One of their friends is Orthodox, & when he asked the waiter if they had anything kosher, the waiter told him no.

"At a Jewish country club?!"

"Sorry, sir, not a thing."

I felt bad for him, but to just to rattle his cage I recommended he could try the kosher crab cake on the menu. He laughed, but the whole incident left him shaking his head.

But, as holdfast suggests, I think with some better planning on everyone's part, his needs could have been met by calling in a kosher caterer, of which there's a couple in suburban MD.

traditionalguy said...

Jim Webb is one man who would tear up the VA Corruption Machine if given the chance. He would personally throw the crooks out.

Robert Cook said...

"...they are going to so reflexively hate everything he does, that even when he does things they love, like kick out the special interests....."

HA! Good luck with that.

Owen said...

Sal: "...workaholic." LOL and IMHO the thread-winner.

Jared Kushner does sound like an impressive dude. I've enjoyed reading a few of his columns in the Observer, and I wish him well.

Regarding the MSM: I think it will take them a long time to regain competence and integrity, and even longer to regain the public's trust. They have spent decades misunderstanding the digital revolution and as they have struggled to adapt, they have shed both muscle and brains. Now, like a species whose habitat has been chopped into too-small islands, they may lack enough of a healthy population ever to breed their way back to long-term stability.

Pass the popcorn.

Hagar said...

I understand there are quite devout Jews who insist all this kosher stuff is just nonsense based on mistranslations of old texts in dead languages that found their way into the Torah.

campy said...

So under the law Sarge Shriver couln't have been Peace Corps Director?

Hahaha, laws are only for the little people. And republicans.

dreams said...


"Jim Webb is one man who would tear up the VA Corruption Machine if given the chance. He would personally throw the crooks out."

He didn't even have enough backbone to vote against Obamacare, his one vote could have spared us that mess. I read his book about the Scotch-Irish Americans and enjoyed it but he has been a great disappointment in politics.

Robert Cook said...

"Hahaha, laws are only for the little people. And republicans."

I'm still waiting for Bush, Cheney, and other members of the Bush Administration to be tried for war crimes, (mounting an aggressive illegal war against Iraq and Afghanistan, implementing torture as official US government policy.)

Right behind the Bushies in the dock, I'm waiting to see members of the Obama administration.

But, as you partly correctly said, "Laws are for the little people."

Kyzer SoSay said...

I would have voted for Webb over Trump. So I'm happy his name is in the news again.

Matt Sablan said...

"Kushner had to take over his father's business (after Chris Christie convicted his father) and greatly expanded into something really big."

-- Motion that all references to big be replaced with yuge or bigly from now until Trump leaves office.

SukieTawdry said...

@BDNYC: I hope Trump picks Jim Webb for something. I don't agree with him on everything, but I respect and admire him for his honesty and independence.

Yeah, well, Webb always talked a good independent game, but he voted 87 percent of the time with the Democrats.

Michael K said...

I'm still waiting for Bush, Cheney, and other members of the Bush Administration to be tried for war crimes,

Cookie. Still crazy after all these years.

Marc in Eugene said...

There's an article currently up at Vanity Fair, the author of which purports to know that 'scion of liberal NY' JK is deigning to soil himself with Mr Trump's government in order to get an eventual pardon of his father, Charles.

Alex said...

Storm Front rekt.

Alex said...

Mr. Kushner, a Jew, will be persecuted by other Jews, and Trump will be called anti-semitic.
Just like Hillary won the popular vote on Tuesday night.


This is true. In fact I've been called a "Jewish nazi" but an old hippie Jew because I have the temerity to believe Israel should have the right to nukes.

Alex said...

Kushner is also Orthodox and a Zionist. He will be hated for both.

The left will be in so many conniptions the next 4 years! Trump will have them spinning like tops.

Trump plays 3D chess while liberals play checkers.

Anonymous said...

a local DC Jewish country club

Really? what's the name?

Woodmont Country Club?

Rockville MD is the epicenter of DC Jewishness :)

mockturtle said...

- Motion that all references to big be replaced with yuge or bigly from now until Trump leaves office.

He does say 'yuuuuge' but he doesn't say 'bigly'. He says 'big-league'. It just sounds like 'bigly'.

mockturtle said...

Most all of the Jews I know are 'Reform', i.e., liberal. Those few who are Orthodox tend to be politically conservative. What I don't understand is: Why do so many Jews vote Democratic when their own interests are at risk by doing so? Maybe some of you on this blog can set me straight.

Anonymous said...

Why do so many Jews vote Democratic when their own interests are at risk by doing so? Maybe some of you on this blog can set me straight.

I've heard tradition. Something big in Jewishness. A Carry over from European trade union politics in the last century.

But you are correct. Other than the Orthodox, many Jews are more deeply Democrats than Jewish.

mockturtle said...

The Drill SGT says: But you are correct. Other than the Orthodox, many Jews are more deeply Democrats than Jewish.

Secular Jews, I guess. Probably similar to Christians in name only, as in 'not Jewish or Muslim'. But, it seems to me, that won't make a particle of difference to ISIS. Or even Keith Ellison.

Etienne said...

mockturtle said...Why do so many Jews vote Democratic...

Democrats are generally for big government. Big government causes debt. Usury can't succeed without debt.

All you have to do is ask the question, who gets the billions in interest payments every year? Follow the money...

To be honest, there really is not much difference in the two parties anymore. The republicans will probably get the credit for bankrupting the country.

khesanh0802 said...

But he's Jewish, how can he possibly serve in a bigoted Trump administration?!?

Unknown said...

Lets face a simpe fact - the University of Wisconsin-Masdison loves fascism.

Unknown said...

Lets face a simple fact - the University of Wisconsin/Madison loves fascism.

paminwi said...

Trust me. There are plenty of ways to get kosher food in NYC when you need it. My daughter worked for a CEO of a company who was an Orthodox Jew. (Worth abt 1.5x what Trump says he's worth). If dinner was at a restaurant that didn't have kosher food she called one of the many places that have kosher food and had it delivered to the restaurant. These folks were on call to provide this food every day until 10:00pm to receive phone calls. Employees were not allowed to bring their own food into the office but because of that there were chef's available all day if someone wanted something to eat outside of the normal lunch hours.
She got very used to calling the chef and asking for breakfast brought to her every morning.
Rich people (really rich people) can get what they need. But, they also treat their loyal employees very well.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Kushner is also Orthodox and a Zionist. He will be hated for both.

By whom? Trump's "deplorables?" Richard B. Spencer? David Duke? To which of Trump's supporters are you referring, precisely?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Why do so many Jews vote Democratic when their own interests are at risk by doing so?

Which of Jesus' interests would he advocate his fellow Jews vote for?

Funny how the bible thumpers' moral interests begin and end with the genitals.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Well, Jesus was apolitical - so I should have asked which "interest" would he advocate that they support.

Same difference.

tcrosse said...

Syllogism:
X is a nasty bigot
X prefers to Trump to Clinton
Ergo everyone who prefers Trump to Clinton is a nasty bigot,
QED

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Syllogism:

X has more nasty bigots than Y.
X also has many non-bigots.
Ergo, no one can ever denounce whatever X is doing to attract bigot support.
QED

Also, just because you took the bait (honorably), here's an exercise:

For as many people who call out bankers, or neocons (or, apparently, Hollywood) on the left,
how many Trump supporters do so while making a big point out of whether those bad actors are Jews or not?

How many left-wing agitators talk about a Zionist conspiracy to takeover the world?

It seems to me that these things would matter. YMMV.

tcrosse said...

I reject your first proposition, i.e. X has more nasty bigots than Y.
You assume that the objects of Y's bigotry are more deserving of bigotry than X's.
Nobody deserves bigotry, however well-intentioned, unless you fall into the argumentum ad Hitlerum.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

What does anything have to do with deserving? Bigotry exists, whether you like it or not.

The white nationalists, Klansmen and neo-Nazis supporting Trump do so openly. There is no equivalent on the left.

But you sound like one of those idiotic white nationalists who think that any black or Latino or minority activism is tantamount to racism. People like you actually fear - or disingenuously claim to fear - that non-whites will "oppress" whites, if they aren't doing so already.

Black bigots and Latino bigots are ineffective. White bigots are not. You would realize and accept this, if only you cared more about the reality of a situation more than what your fearful mind can project into it. Latinos and blacks will not make you into a 2nd-class citizen, paranoid white man tcrosse.

But you probably already knew that and just wanted to score partisan points for another day. Keep doing so. It will backfire eventually.

YoungHegelian said...

@Drill Sgt,

Woodmont Country Club?

Yep, you called it.

autothreads said...

The white nationalists, Klansmen and neo-Nazis supporting Trump do so openly. There is no equivalent on the left.

The Jew-haters of the BDS movement have purchase on the Democratic party. BDS supporter Cornell West was on the DNC platform committee, and Congressman Keith Ellison (D. - Muslim Brotherhood) is likely to be the new Democratic party chairman.

When Ted Beale or Richard Spencer has a similar role in Republican politics, you'll have a point, but until then, I see Jew-haters more welcome on your side of the aisle.

autothreads said...

Seriously, what are two Orthodox Jews doing at the 21 Club? Drinking a can of Coca-Cola while everyone else eats? I'm not sure just how rigorous Mr. & Mrs (aka Ivanka) Kushner are in their observation of kashrut, but it's a tough row to hoe when you're living in a very Gentile environment.

I write about cars. If Toyota can arrange for me to have a kosher meal at a non-kosher restaurant in Charleston, SC, I'm pretty sure Donald Trump can get 21 to serve his daughter and son-in-law some kosher food brought in from a kosher caterer/restaurant.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Bernie-supporter Cornell West and Keith Ellison are not Jew haters.

They just object to your priority of making Israel your bitch in the proxy war you want it to fight against... whoever, really.

Being a neocon who wants Israel to be his South Vietnam does not equate to opposing anti-semitism.

Qwinn said...

"How many left wing agitators talk about a Zionist conspiracy to take over the world?"

Um. Craploads of them. Where the hell.have you been?

Bruce Hayden said...

The white nationalists, Klansmen and neo-Nazis supporting Trump do so openly. There is no equivalent on the left.

A couple dozen, out of more than 60 million votes. BFD. Not worth discussing, except to take the focus of the rampant antisemitism of parts of the left, and keep the bulk of the Jews voting for Dems. And, as has been repeatedly pointed out, prominent Dems, of the left, and esp. Black political figures, have spewed far more antisemitism over the last several decades. I think that this dynamic can be best seen with the different ways that the Republicans and Democrats handled the taint of the KKK in the Senate. Trent Lott was stripped of his Senate office because he said something nice about a dead colleague. Bob Byrd, an actual Klan member, was lionized by the Dems in the Senate, upon his death, including by then Senator Crooked Hillary Clinton. The Klan was a Dem party construct, it was their militant wing for much of a century, and they have never truly distanced themselves from it. When (former Dem Presidential candidate) Jesse Jackson was talking about "Hymietown", he wasn't talking about Tel Aviv, but rather, NYC. Etc.

Next time anyone brings up the fact that Trump did not disavow support by neo-Nazis and neo-Klan, remind them that of the 60+ million who voted for him, a mere handful fall into those categories. And, it just isn't worth his time to specifically disavow every single supporter who takes extreme views, such as those. And, Crooked Hillary did worse, refusing to disavow BLM cop killers, and giving the father of the Jihadist killer in the gay bar in Orlando a prominent position behind her on stage.

Bruce Hayden said...

My theory on why most Jews tend to stay Democrats is first that they have survived for 3,000+ years by being a fairly insular tribe. Peer pressure to stay with the group (MOT) is therefore fairly high. And, secondly, as I understand it, Judaism does not have the same view of the afterlife as does Christianity. Christians believe (or are supposed to believe) in an afterlife, one that is good, if they are good on this earth. Absent that, Jews look more at leaving the earth a better place, which is maybe why so many seem to be more Utopian.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Bruce Hayden has always been one of the dumbest commenters on the internet, let alone this blog.

Trent Lott was stripped of his Senate office because he said something nice about a dead colleague.

He didn't just say something "nice." He said that America should have voted Dixiecrat when he ran and that we'd be a better country under his segregationist policies if we had. Apparently you also think this would be a nice thing.

Byrd, OTOH, never advocated any such racism while enjoying membership as a mainstream Democrat.

Jews don't believe in utopia. They just believe in preventing the world from turning into the absolute hellhole that your friends Hitler, Torquemada and all their friends have taken their shot at turning it into. They're not taught to hold greater regard for a fancifully idyllic (utopian?) heaven than for actual life. They also know the difference between myth and fact and place less emphasis on blind faith.

It's hard to see which black groups have ever threatened to oppress Jews as badly as, say, the Mississippi civil rights workers assassins did. But you go right on and complain about a disrespectful word here are there as somehow being tantamount to the threats posed by those supporting the most authoritarian president-elect ever, decades and centuries after they supported Confederate slavery.

Parties change policies and constituencies. But race-baiting apologist dbs like Bruce Hayden never change their spots. They just change their arguments. Different name, different party, same racism and ignorance.

Keep suppressing the vote, too - while you're at it. Let's see what happens. Were Republicans suppressing the vote in 1864, seeing as how static you think history is? I guess voter suppression is ok to gain greater appeal among Republicans over time. Republicans are allowed to change, you see; Democrats somehow are the same ones as in 1860. According to cognitive dissonance practitioner Mr. Hayden.

If a couple dozen people can't be dangerously influential, then you should have been ok with a Hillary presidency. After all, she's just one person. And her worst aides and press surrogates couldn't have numbered more than at least about a half dozen.

Behold the cognitive dissonance.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The Soviet politburo was just "a couple dozen" folks. It's not like we need to disparage them at the expense of the millions who voted for them.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

"How many left wing agitators talk about a Zionist conspiracy to take over the world?"

Um. Craploads of them. Where the hell.have you been?


Find me a single one who wasn't an enthusiastic Donald Trump supporter.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

http://www.dailywire.com/news/10770/3-thoughts-steve-bannon-white-house-chief-ben-shapiro

http://www.dailywire.com/news/9441/actual-conservatives-guide-alt-right-8-things-you-michael-knowles#

Bad Lieutenant said...


Rhythm and Balls said...
The Soviet politburo was just "a couple dozen" folks. It's not like we need to disparage them at the expense of the millions who voted for them.
11/18/16, 3:02 AM


The Politburo had free and fair elections? Wait, what?