The saga between Donald Trump and Jared Kushner reaches a whole new level of stupid
“President” Donald Trump did an interview with The Washington Post in which he covered a number of topics, including the ever-changing and ever-more-preposterous stories Saudi Arabia is releasing about the death of Jamal Khashoggi. Trump referred to the “deceptions” and “lies” coming out of Saudi Arabia. He then spoke about his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and tried to distance Jared from the Khashoggi murder and issues it creates. Trump stated:
“Jared doesn’t do business with Saudi Arabia. They’re two young guys. Jared doesn’t know him well or anything. They are just two young people. They are the same age. They like each other I believe. Jared has done a very good job. I think he’ll make peace with Israel. But there are a lot of setbacks. This is a setback for that.”
One would think he is speaking of people who are in their late teens or perhaps early to mid-20’s, but alas, Jared is 37 years old. At that age, he is eligible to run for President of the United States. But perhaps Trump would like us to refer to Jared Kushner as “Just a Kid.” The fact that the Crown Prince and Jared are 37-year-olds does nothing to mitigate the reality that the Crown Prince appears to have been involved in Khashoggi’s brutal murder and now the coverup.
In addition, Trump’s statement that Jared “doesn’t know him well” sounds the same as Trump’s statements about Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn and various other people who find themselves in legal trouble. It also belies the reality of Jared’s connections with Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman, and how influential Jared has been in connecting Trump to the House of Saud. As The Guardian recently pointed out, Jared has been very close with MBS and very involved in the relationship. Recall that MBS earlier this year was touting how much United States intelligence Jared gave to MBS.
What Trump’s latest statements about Jared and MBS strongly suggest is that Jared is much more involved in this whole situation than we currently know, and that more bad developments are to come. Trump should know this: his son-in-law is old enough to go to jail if he committed crimes, and his moniker of “Just a Kid” might be cute in jail but will not keep the “young people” from trouble.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.