Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner enjoyed largely unfettered access to Trump in his first term and were influential on a vast portfolio including Middle Eastern peace negotiations and Covid-19 vaccine development.
In the second Trump administration starting on Jan 20, however, they say they will not take official roles, and will instead be some 1,600 km away from Washington DC in their Miami home.
Kushner, originally a real estate scion, now runs a private equity firm fuelled by investments from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Ivanka Trump, meanwhile, has eschewed politics and has said she wants to focus on her three children.
However, Kushner remains involved behind the scenes, advising on Trump's Middle Eastern strategy, helping select appointees and guiding certain cabinet members through the transition, according to one source familiar with his work.
Kushner is "very, very close" to Trump's incoming chief-of-staff, Susie Wiles, and speaks to her regularly, the source said. Kushner is also involved with some hiring — for example working with incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi to help find a new Federal Bureau of Prisons director, the source added.
And Kushner, who helped broker a series of normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab nations, has been advising Steve Witkoff, a longtime Trump friend and donor, on his new job as special envoy to the Middle East.
"He's been focusing on getting Steve up to speed on the file and helping Steve with strategy," the source added.
A representative for Witkoff did not respond to a request for comment.
With the Trump administration expected to pursue the goal of normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia under an expansion of the 2020 Abraham Accords, Kushner is likely to play an important role behind the scenes on the Middle East.
"As a former ambassador, I can tell you that if I were doing anything in the Middle East, the first person I would go to would be Jared," said Ed McMullen, a prominent Trump fundraiser and his former ambassador to Switzerland.
Ethics experts, Democrats and even some Republicans have expressed concern that the Middle Eastern investments — which include US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) from Saudi Arabia — in Kushner's firm present conflicts of interest since he worked on regional issues in the White House, a view Kushner says is wrong and politically motivated.
Reuters reported in October that Kushner had discussed US-Saudi diplomatic negotiations involving Israel with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman multiple times since leaving the Trump White House.
Following the Reuters story, Democratic lawmakers asked the US attorney general to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether Kushner was functioning as an unregistered foreign agent for Saudi Arabia.
Kushner, who says there is no conflict of interest with his investments, dismissed the letter as "silly political stunts."
Thanks in part to his firm Affinity Partners, Forbes estimates Kushner is close to becoming a billionaire.
Spokespeople for Kushner and Ivanka Trump, as well as the Trump transition team, did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump does not appear to need his family for advice as much as in the past because of trusted aides like Wiles, who helped to run the most disciplined of his election campaigns to date.
"Trump has a much more professional operation around him," said David Kochel, a Republican strategist.
Kushner and Ivanka Trump were involved in a large remit of issues during Trump's 2017-2021 administration, with Kushner's portfolio including brokering a new North American trade agreement with tougher rules on labour and automotive content, and helping North America land the 2026 football World Cup. Ivanka also successfully advocated for an expansion of the child tax credit and paid parental leave for federal workers.
Kushner is due to remain focused on business, with Affinity Partners recently raising an additional US$1.5 billion from the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi investor Lunate, he said in late December.
"I made very clear to them," Kushner added, "that in the event that Trump was elected, that they should not expect anything from me for that," Kushner said on the Invest Like the Best podcast.
On a recent episode of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast, Ivanka Trump said she had eschewed another White House stint to prioritise time with her three children. She said she was looking forward to supporting Trump as a daughter rather than an adviser this time around.
Ivanka Trump's Instagram features photos of luxury vacations, glamorous nights out in Miami, and her playing polo and surfing.
Trump's sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are also not expected to join him in official White House roles. Don Jr., his eldest son, has joined conservative venture capital fund 1789 Capital, while Eric Trump runs the Trump Organisation, Donald Trump's family business.
Source: Reuters
