In February, 2017, Sheikh Hamid bin Jaber Al Thani, a billionaire and former Prime Minister of Qatar, with whom Jared Kushner and his father, convicted felon Charlie Kushner, had spent considerable time wooing for loans of hundreds of millions of dollars in financing in their attempt to save from foreclosure their at-risk 666 5th Avenue building, paid a visit to Mar-a-Lago, and spent considerable time in private talks with trump. Upon his return home, he then described his discussions to Emir Tamim bin Hamid Al Thani, the ruler of Qatar, by informing him that “The people atop the new [US] administration were heavily motivated by personal financial gain”.1
Combine this with 1) a total ignorance of the workings of government, of how both domestic and world politics works, and of world history, 2) with a pervasive arrogance that does not allow for a scintilla of respect or consideration for the advice of intelligent, experienced advisors and diplomats, or for basic common sense, and 3) with the all-encompassing corrupting nature of power, power that over a very short period, as the saying goes, corrupts absolutely, and you have in a nutshell, not the voice of reason as some people have been led to believe, but rather the enabling influence of Jared and Ivanka, validating every pathological, narcissist, sociopathic and anti-American act swimming through the vile mind of the 45th president, as laid out in excruciating detail by veteran journalist Vicky Ward.
Kushner, Inc.: Greed, Ambition, Corruption by Vicky Ward
As one reads in “Kushner, Inc.: Greed, Ambition, Corruption”, Ward’s digest of the first two years of the trump administration and the part played by what she (and others) refer to as “Javanka”, perhaps the most striking element of their participation is their cavalier attitude, an attitude that screams out, “I’m here to help, until I’m NOT!” What I mean by this is that their personal interests far outweigh in their minds and in their deeds, the needs of the government and of the people of the United States. At no time, as two years are recounted by Ward, did either of them ever put country first. Rather, their order of importance was their own personal financial and business interests, the needs of trump, and then, somewhere tailing off at the far end, the tasks to which they were empowered. Ward cites numerous key events where advice and action were needed immediately, and when the eyes went to Jared and/or Ivanka for if not a solution at least a suggestion, and lo and behold, they had left Washington for a “well-needed” vacation. The media tells us on a regular basis of trump’s outrageous golf schedule, having spent about 1/3 of his time over his presidency away at one or another of his private golf clubs, but only seldom is it mentioned that his two key advisors also seem to spent an inordinate amount of time on their own play dates, and at times where their “expertise” is most needed, if not expected.
In addition, Ward describes time after time where Jared needed to be working on government business, but was not. Remember trump has assigned to him a litany of duties that include bringing about peace in the middle east, solving the opioid crisis, reforming the federal criminal justice system, being the chief liaison with Mexico, in fact superseding the regular duties of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson2, being the liaison to the US Muslim community and to bring about friendly relations with China, However, Ward cites time after time when Jared was not in the White House, was not even in Washington, but rather was at the Kusher Companies’ offices in New York working on matters of his family business.
Of course, this never stopped either of them for taking credit where none was due, or for remaining silent when others bestowed such credit where the facts belie such accolades. Astoundingly, time after time, both foreign leaders and US government officials have
curried their favor in this manner. For example, Ward cites statements from her sources that when the deal to rework NAFTA was finalized and both Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the world what a great asset Jared had been in getting it done, the reality was that Jared actually contributed very little, that the real credit should have gone to Lighthizer.3
Another theme of the book that appears on page after page is the flaunting of long-established rules by Jared and Ivanka, from Jared’s outright lies and significant omissions on his security clearance application forms, to his consummate failure to follow protocol, giving himself full access to what seems to be the entire federal government, and Ivanka’s taking her father’s seat at meetings with foreign leaders, using her position to obtain foreign trademarks, and her use of government resources including flights on government airplanes for her personal business.
And that leads to the one final theme that bounces around the author’s words until it becomes the focal point of the final pages is the total power trip that has fueled Ivanka over the past two years, a power trip that includes her firm belief that the current presidency is just the beginning of a family dynasty and that it is she that is destined to become President of the United States.4:
“Ever since her father clinched the Republican nomination, Ivanka has been carefully positioning herself as his political heir…
“Not long after her father plopped down behind his desk in the Oval Office, she had started her unofficial campaign to become the first Selfie President.”
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1 Vicky Ward, “Kushner, Inc.: Greed, Ambition, Corruption”, St. Martin’s Press, 2019, p 151
2 p. 230
3 p. 144
4 p. 236
