There are few people Mr Trump trusts more than his eldest daughter and her husbandReuters
As theWhite Housescrambles to deal with the fallout from the latest revelations about contact betweenDonald Trump’scampaign team and Russia, there is said to be mounting that talk that his favoured advisor,Jared Kushner, may have to take a leave of absence.
Mr Trump returned to Washington after a nine-day overseas tour and immediately went on the offensive, saying the leaks coming out of his administration were “fabricated lies’ invented by the media.
Yet as the President was said to have met with his own criminal defence lawyer who is helping him deal with the FBI’s probe into possible collusion between his team and Moscow alleged effort to influence the election, increasing attention was being paid to Mr Kushner’s future.
Last week, it was confirmed the 36-year-old, who is married to Mr Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, was the focus of the FBI’s ongoing investigation.
It was then reported that Mr Kushner had last year asked the Russian Ambassador to the US to establish a secret back channel using Russia’s communication systems to enable the Trump transition team to talk to Moscow.
Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Chief White House correspondent Jon Karl said there had been a lot of talk of a shake-up, now that Mr Trump had returned to Washington. He said there was also a big question as to what role Mr Kushner should have.
Donald Trump claims his first foreign trip has been a success. His body language tells otherwise
“There is no advisor closer to the president - his office goes - opens right into the Oval Office. He has taken on a portfolio bigger than anybody in the West Wing,” he said.
“And you hear people now, very close to the president, openly saying that it is too much, that he now finds himself at the centre of this investigation, even if he is ultimately completely cleared, he is at the centre of this investigation right now.”
He added: “And you hear people close to the president quietly saying, is it too much and is it time for Jared to take a step back, maybe even take a leave of absence from the White House.”
