A senior Trump official reportedly laughed at the idea of Chris Christie getting a role in the administration

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published 17 November 2016

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's chances at a future in President-elect Donald Trump's administration keep getting slimmer and slimmer. Days after Christie lost his position as chair of Trump's transition team to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, NBC News reported that a senior Trump official "merely laughed" when asked if Christie might get tapped for a job in the administration.

While some attribute Christie's waning popularity among the Trump team to his perceived lack of loyalty after the release of Trump's Access Hollywood tape or "dissatisfaction with his team's work" on the transition, NBC News reported that Trump insiders say it may very well boil down to tensions between Christie and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. In 2005 while serving as a U.S. attorney, Christie prosecuted Kushner's father for charges including tax evasion and illegal campaign contributions; Kushner's father spent two years in prison as a result.

Christie reportedly isn't the only one getting burned by his rocky relationship with Kushner. NBC News reported that Gen. Michael Flynn — "bearing instructions" from Kushner — nixed several people at the transition team's first post-election meeting. All of the candidates Flynn pulled out of the running for national security and intelligence positions, NBC News reported, were people Christie had supported, including retired Marine General Peter Pace, retired Marine General James Mattis, former House Intelligence chairman Mike Rogers, and retired Admiral William McRaven, the architect of the Osama bin Laden raid in 2011.