by nypost.com — Victor Nava — Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former top adviser Jared Kushner has shown no interest in helping the former president navigate a series of storms that threaten to sink his 2024 campaign, according to a new report Friday. Per New York magazine, since the 76-year-old Trump’s Nov. 22 dinner with anti-semitic rapper Kanye West and white nationalist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago became public, Kushner has ignored requests for “help … for public support, even looking for a response” from his father-in-law’s nascent election operation. Meanwhile, the report added, the 41-year-old Kushner has taken to handing out Trump’s phone number for supplicants to call directly rather than act as a go-between. “He was like, ‘Look, I’m out. I’m really out,’” the outlet quoted a source as saying.
Prior to Trump announcing his third consecutive presidential campaign on Nov. 15, Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, did not hide their lack of interest in taking part. “They both feel they got burned in Washington and don’t want to go back and expose themselves and their children to another bitter campaign,” an insider explained to The Post at the time.
Kushner attended the campaign kickoff at Mar-a-Lago, but Ivanka did not — raising eyebrows by swiftly putting out a statement saying in part that “I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics.” New York mag’s source acknowledged that Kushner had sent a “mixed message” by showing up for Trump’s announcement, calling it “a combination of having respect for a family member and drawing clear lines for your life.”
Trump insisted to reporter Olivia Nuzzi that despite the notable absences from his 2024 launch, his entire family is “100%” behind him. “I think that all members of my family are with me. It doesn’t mean that they’re going to work on the campaign, but they’re always 100% with me,” Trump said, adding that his elder daughter “did a very good job, and she was treated unfairly, and I don’t want to see that happen, you know? It’s a nasty business.” When asked about navigating the fallout from the West-Fuentes dinner, the 45th president insisted: “I don’t need anybody’s advice! I don’t need any advice! I’m pretty good. I think I’m pretty good at doing advice.”
However, a Trump 2024 adviser painted a far different picture. “There’s nobody around him who wants him to do it,” the adviser told New York. “Forget Jared and Ivanka — Don Jr. doesn’t want him to do it! The only person who wants him to do it is Eric’s wife, Lara, because she’s so ambitious.” Trump is trying to become only the second president elected to non-consecutive terms amid the backdrop of controversy, including federal investigations into his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss and his retention of classified government documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office.
Meanwhile, a series of recent polls show Trump trailing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a hypothetical GOP primary — causing the former president to bristle when asked about being “governed by” the popular 44-year-old. “Well, I live in Florida … but you know, when you say ‘governed by’ him …” the former president responded to Nuzzi before pausing. “You know, these people forget,” he said. “Politicians tend to forget.” “I don’t think anybody can beat me in a primary,” Trump added.
