For all the top jobs being dished out by Donald Trump, there’s one figure close to the president-elect that worries me more than the others. Steve Bannon’s appointment as Chief Strategist might have fired up the Twitter mob, but it’s the elevation of Jared Kushner as Trump’s unofficial chief consigliere which seems most troubling of all. After all, however you spin it, having your son-in-law apparently calling the shots means Trump is following in some worrying footsteps.
While some have cheered Trump’s victory for the rude awakening it gave to soft-hearted liberals, Kushner popping up at Trump Tower for the Donald’s first meeting with a foreign leader – Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe – should be a wake-up call. It’s true that Kushner can’t hold office under Trump – a 1967 law put paid to a president handing a job to a relative. Yet there are ways around it. And there are enough informal positions Kushner can take on to wield power in the new administration unofficially.
But is it really such a worry for Trump to have a close relative near at hand helping out? A glance at other world leaders doing the same suggests so: in Turkey, Recep Erdogan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak – the country’s minister of energy – has
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in