Capitolo 4
The Perfect Match: Jared and Ivanka
At a networking lunch arranged by diamond heir Moshe Lax, Jared met Ivanka Trump-perfectly fulfilling publicist Howard Rubenstein's recommendation that "Jared should date a high-profile woman." The two real estate heirs quickly became a gossip column sensation, appearing as gracious, mature counterpoints to their crass fathers.
After dating for a year, they split in April 2008 because Seryl and Charlie were horrified at the prospect of Jared marrying outside their faith, refusing even to meet Ivanka. They reunited that summer during a boating holiday orchestrated by Wendi Deng Murdoch, with Ivanka agreeing to convert to Judaism on Charlie's demanding terms.
By the wedding on October 25, 2009, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, Charlie and Seryl had become effusive about their new daughter-in-law, with Charlie giving an emotionally charged speech praising Ivanka as a fantastic addition to the family. Donald Trump, however, seemed discombobulated by his daughter's conversion, giving what guests described as a "lame and embarrassing" toast. He questioned why his daughter needed to convert and told associates he thought Charlie was "stupid" for getting caught by federal authorities.
Unlike Jared who was his father's favorite, Ivanka had fought for Donald Trump's attention throughout her life. After her parents' divorce, she made extraordinary efforts to stay close to her father-calling him from school janitors' closets and visiting his office daily. While she portrays her childhood positively, friends recall her loneliness. The divorce made the Trump children band together in an "us-versus-the-world" mentality, with Ivanka carefully controlling her public image from an early age.
Joining the Trump Organization in 2005, Ivanka became skilled at self-promotion and media manipulation. Despite her carefully crafted image as a competent businesswoman, court records and interviews reveal a chaotic organization where decisions happened haphazardly. The Trump business had shifted from development to licensing, with Ivanka and her siblings selling franchises to questionable partners. Success in the organization meant bringing new projects to their father for instant approval, with minimal documentation or due diligence.
The newlyweds cultivated a perfect Instagram image of work-life balance that matched Ivanka's brand as a successful working woman. They had three children in quick succession-Arabella (2011), Joseph (2013), and Theodore (2016). Though they entertained frequently, hosting Shabbat dinners for friends like Michael Ovitz and Tamara Mellon, beneath their polished exterior, acquaintances noted a combination of arrogance and intellectual incuriosity.
Capitolo 5
The Reluctant Campaign Strategists
When Donald Trump announced his presidential run in June 2015, the Kushners quickly leveraged the campaign's growing momentum for business opportunities. They courted Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani (HBJ), Qatar's former prime minister, who initially committed $500 million to their 666 Fifth Avenue luxury mall project, contingent on finding a matching investor.
Though initially distant from Trump's campaign, Kushner became increasingly involved as his father-in-law gained traction, experiencing a personal turning point at a November 2015 rally in Springfield, Illinois. He helped craft Trump's AIPAC speech with assistance from Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer and Observer editor Ken Kurson, whose involvement created ethical concerns. As Trump's rhetoric grew more divisive, many in New York's Jewish real estate community were disturbed, though associates believed the couple saw the campaign primarily as "a networking opportunity" rather than ideological alignment.
Once Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee in May 2016, Kushner and Ivanka pushed to assert themselves within the campaign. Kushner gained control of the budget but clashed with campaign chief Corey Lewandowski, whom Trump adored despite the Trump children's dislike. In June 2016, Kushner and Trump's children delivered an ultimatum to Trump: "It's Corey or us." After Trump called Lewandowski three times on Father's Day, Lewandowski arrived the next morning for the regular Monday meeting only to be fired.
As Kushner's influence in the campaign grew, he began cultivating powerful international connections that would benefit both the campaign and potentially his family business. From data analytics partnerships to diplomatic relationships with foreign officials, Kushner positioned himself at the center of Trump's foreign outreach strategy while Ivanka worked to soften her father's public image.
Despite federal laws prohibiting campaigns from soliciting contributions from foreign nationals, Kushner rapidly expanded his international contacts. Henry Kissinger introduced him to Chinese ambassador Cui Tiankai, conveniently while Anbang was negotiating with Kushner Companies over 666 Fifth Avenue. Tom Barrack connected Kushner with UAE ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, who had invested at least $1 million with Barrack.
While Kushner worked behind the scenes, Ivanka managed her father's public image, particularly regarding women. Despite Trump's misogynistic comments, she insisted "he's not a groper" and that "his actions speak louder than words." She focused on building her own brand around women's empowerment with her #womenwhowork hashtag and upcoming book.
Capitolo 6
From Chaos to Victory: The Final Campaign Push
By mid-August 2016, Trump's campaign was in chaos - no money, no plan, and an undisciplined candidate. After Rebekah Mercer confronted Trump with a damning New York Times article, Steve Bannon was appointed campaign chief executive and Kellyanne Conway became campaign manager. Examining the campaign's finances, Bannon discovered they were essentially broke, not the $25 million Kushner had claimed.
Bannon threw out the existing schedule with themes like "women's empowerment" and brought in experienced operatives including David Bossie as deputy campaign manager. He leveraged the RNC's $175 million data operation despite Trump and Kushner's reluctance to use it. Digital director Gary Coby's Facebook fundraising efforts proved crucial, raising $256 million in eighteen weeks from small-dollar donors.
While Kushner served as a valuable conduit to Trump, he wasn't focused on campaign minutiae and still spent considerable time at 666 Fifth Avenue. He never joined the daily 5 PM check-in calls with senior staff. Ivanka was mostly absent due to having a new baby, while Don Jr. and Eric Trump connected better with the base and campaigned more actively.
In late August, Kushner proposed a presidential-looking trip to Mexico. He had been secretly talking with Mexican Finance Minister Luis Videgaray about renegotiating NAFTA. They arranged for Trump to meet President Enrique Pena Nieto on August 31, planning a friendly press conference with no mention of Mexico paying for the wall. Despite Trump's security concerns requiring special travel arrangements, the visit initially went well visually. However, when ABC's Jonathan Karl asked about Mexico paying for the wall, Trump began answering despite the plan to avoid the topic.
On October 7, as WikiLeaks released damaging Clinton Foundation emails, The Washington Post published a 2005 video of Trump bragging about grabbing women "by the pussy." While many campaign members thought it was over, Bannon insisted Trump respond with a statement. Kushner and Ivanka skipped Shabbat to help draft a response with Stephen Miller. After hours of chaos and Trump's visible distress, Ivanka calmed her father, and they finally released a video response around 12:30 AM.
On Election Night, as Trump's victory became clear, Bannon prepared a "fire-breathing" victory speech for the "forgotten men." However, Ivanka and Kushner convinced Trump to deliver a unifying message instead. Bannon later viewed this contradiction as "the original sin of this administration" - revealing the fundamental conflict between his vision of Trump as a disruptive force and the couple's desire for Trump to be liked.
Capitolo 7
The White House Years: Unprecedented Power and Conflicts
Jared Kushner arrived in Washington with enormous but undefined influence, quickly earning the nickname "Secretary of Everything" for his tendency to meddle across policy areas despite having no clear portfolio. While Ivanka made a splash with her designer wardrobe and social media presence, ethics experts questioned both Kushners' inadequate business divestments.
Kushner complained about the financial burden of government service while selling only a fraction of his real estate holdings. According to The Washington Post, he still owned assets valued between $167.5 million and $569.5 million, placed in trusts with his mother or brother. A Cadre investor noted cynically: "Jared and Josh own everything together... saying he transferred the interest to his brother is a joke." White House colleagues resented that the couple appeared to profit while in office while "everyone else had played by the rules."
Ivanka arrived in Washington seeking her "princess moment" with a parade of designer outfits documented on Instagram. Though taking a "leave of absence" from her business, she didn't sell it - an arrangement ethics experts found unsatisfactory. At the inaugural balls, the couple appeared euphoric at their newfound power. Despite her campaign championing of women, Ivanka remained silent during the massive Women's March, while secretly attempting to negotiate with Planned Parenthood to end abortion services in exchange for federal funding.
Kushner opposed repealing Obamacare, raising suspicions about his motives given his brother Josh's health insurance company Oscar was valued at $2.7 billion - worth more than any other Kushner family asset. Though Josh never directly spoke to Gary Cohn about healthcare legislation, his chief policy officer Joel Klein persistently lobbied Cohn, making him uncomfortable with what seemed like attempts to shape policy to benefit Oscar.
The tension between Kushner and Steve Bannon erupted when Bannon discovered Kushner was secretly meeting with senators about preserving DACA, directly contradicting Trump's campaign promises. Their confrontation escalated from Kushner's accusations about Bannon's ego to shouting, with Bannon later telling a confidant that Kushner transformed "from a little boy to, like, this fucking devil."
Ivanka's relationship with her father was uncomfortably close, with her regularly entering the Oval Office with children in tow, speaking in a "singsong voice" while Trump called her "baby." Despite this influence, Trump occasionally reminded her who was in charge, once dismissing her outrage over Kellyanne Conway's ethics violation with "Honey, you sell shoes. Calm down." Ivanka's policy initiatives, like expanding the child tax credit, were often at odds with Republican positions, earning her office the nickname "HABI" - "Home of All Bad Ideas."
Capitolo 8
The Comey Firing and Its Aftermath
On May 9, 2017, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, a decision that sent shockwaves through Washington and was largely orchestrated by Jared Kushner. When news broke, Gary Cohn and Dina Powell, both former Goldman Sachs executives, were alarmed by the political fallout. Powell emotionally confronted Kushner, warning him it was a huge political mistake, but Kushner remained unmoved, insisting "the guy is not on our team."
By April, with Kushner's undisclosed Russian meetings becoming public, he became "gung-ho" about firing Comey. In the Oval Office, Kushner argued to Trump that firing Comey would be popular because agents hated him, Democrats would appreciate it, and Trump's base would raise money off it. Bannon vehemently disagreed with each point, warning that agents would rally behind Comey "like J. Edgar Hoover" and Democrats would treat him "like Joan of Arc." Most critically, Bannon warned: "You fire Comey, you're going to get a special counsel." Despite these warnings, Trump sided with Kushner after a weekend at Bedminster with Jared and Ivanka.
The reaction to Comey's firing was exactly opposite of what Kushner had predicted - widespread outrage erupted, with many calling it an abuse of power. The situation worsened when Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that "this Russia thing" factored into his decision to fire Comey, essentially admitting he fired the FBI director partly because of the Russia investigation.
On May 17, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Russia inquiry. Just eight days later, The Washington Post reported that Kushner was a focus of Mueller's investigation, and later his business dealings came under scrutiny as well. Mueller's team would investigate Kushner's meetings with representatives of Qatar, Turkey, UAE, Russia, and China, while the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office examined Deutsche Bank loans to Kushner Companies.
With Robert Mueller's appointment as special counsel, Trump assembled a legal team including Marc Kasowitz, John Dowd, Ty Cobb, and Jay Sekulow, with Mark Corallo handling communications strategy. The team identified three main areas of investigation: Flynn and Manafort's foreign connections, social media interference through microtargeting, and Comey's firing. They recognized Kushner as potentially implicated in all three areas, with particular concern about his claims regarding campaign microtargeting, his 666 Fifth Avenue negotiations, and his security clearance form omissions regarding Russian meetings.
Capitolo 9
Middle East Diplomacy and Business Entanglements
Kushner's Middle East diplomacy operated largely outside normal State Department channels. After his third trip to Riyadh in 2017, Crown Prince MBS had approximately 200 prominent Saudis arrested on corruption charges and detained in the Ritz-Carlton hotel. The detainees were forced to surrender billions without trials, with some requiring hospitalization from their treatment. Intelligence sources indicated Kushner may have shared U.S. intelligence with MBS about Saudis disloyal to the crown prince, which Kushner's attorney denied.
On December 6, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and ordered the embassy moved from Tel Aviv, despite Secretary of State Tillerson warning "You are making a huge mistake." State Department officials were concerned that Trump gave this concession without getting anything in return, such as Israeli concessions on West Bank settlements. When Palestinian violence didn't immediately erupt as Tillerson and Mattis had warned, Trump mocked them.
In March 2018, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Trump and Kushner at the White House. Despite Trump's public warmth, the meeting grew heated when MBS balked at Trump's request for $4 billion to rebuild Syria, claiming Saudi Arabia couldn't afford it. Trump challenged MBS's claim of poverty, pointing to his lavish travel arrangements. Weeks later, Qatar's Emir Al Thani visited the White House, strategically wearing a suit rather than robes and offering to help with Syria and Iran, but explaining the blockade prevented this. Trump then pressured the Saudis and UAE to resolve the Gulf crisis, even drafting a stern letter threatening to cut off support.
Meanwhile, the Kushners' deal with Anbang for 666 Fifth Avenue faced multiple obstacles. By March 2017, the Anbang-666 deal collapsed, though Kushner Companies remained publicly optimistic about finding alternative funding. In April 2017, Qatari Finance Minister Ali Shareef Al Emadi came to New York, where Charlie Kushner and his daughter Nicole Kushner Meyer sought nearly one billion dollars for their troubled property. The Qataris politely declined. A financial analyst later questioned whether the Qatar blockade would have happened had they funded Kushner's request.
Capitolo 10
Salvation Through Brookfield and Legacy Questions
In May 2018, The New York Times reported that Kushner Companies and Brookfield Asset Management were nearing a deal on 666 Fifth Avenue. The article highlighted Brookfield's ties to Qatar Investment Authority, which owned a $1.8 billion stake in Brookfield's real estate arm, though Qatar denied involvement in the deal. On June 1, Vornado announced it would sell its 49.5% stake to Kushner Companies for $120 million, clearing the way for the Brookfield deal.
By August 3, Brookfield and Kushner Companies closed a deal where Brookfield leased the building's office space for ninety-nine years, paying the entire rent upfront. This unusual arrangement allowed Kushner Companies to pay off the $1.1 billion debt and buy out Vornado. The structure also helped the Kushners avoid paying potentially hundreds of millions in taxes that would have been triggered by a sale. For an initial $50 million investment in 2007, Charlie had transformed the family's status from New Jersey developers to Manhattan players-and ultimately to the White House.
The epilogue reveals Ivanka's presidential ambitions, with Gary Cohn quoted as saying "She thinks she's going to be president" and believes the Trumps are establishing a dynasty like the Kennedys or Bushes. Since her father's nomination, Ivanka has been strategically positioning herself as his political heir - introducing him at the convention, editing his acceptance speech, securing a large West Wing staff, networking with industry leaders, and championing workplace initiatives while maintaining a constant social media presence showcasing her global activities.
Despite numerous scandals and ethical questions surrounding both Jared and Ivanka, their power only increased with Chief of Staff John Kelly's departure in December 2018. However, the epilogue presents an alternative scenario where they face a reckoning through the Mueller investigation and the newly Democrat-controlled House with subpoena power. As one source ominously concluded, "One day, when Jared and Ivanka are gone, I will tell you the real story" - suggesting even more damaging revelations await.