By MICHAEL WILNERJared Kushner and Ivanka Trump(photo credit: REUTERS)
In retrospect, it was silly of us ever to think that President Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law were at risk of losing their jobs in the White House.It’s true: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner navigated several historically divisive West Wing battles and pushed out rancorous, determined adversaries, bending policy – if ever so slightly – toward their own politics. They endured periods of relentless media coverage, to the ire of Ivanka’s father, losing friends back in New York who worried that the couple had drunk too much of the far-right Kool-Aid.But the president is known for valuing loyalty, and who in the White House could possibly be more devoted to the success of the Trump administration than his own family?Thus Ivanka and Jared have stayed, maintaining a low profile, but consistently shaping the direction of the administration from behind the scenes.Ivanka frequently disagrees with her father in public, recently distancing herself from his position that journalists are the enemy of the American people, and his policy of separating children from their immigrant parents at the US border with Mexico. She notched a significant policy victory earlier this year by successfully advocating for congressional Republicans to include in their tax bill a doubling of the child tax credit, and she is currently pushing for a generous national paid family-leave policy.Jared, meanwhile, continues to work on national prison reform and on a peace plan for Israelis and Palestinians. His team says the Mideast peace plan is detailed, pragmatic and essentially complete, although it acknowledges that relations with the Palestinian Authority make for a difficult negotiating environment.
