The time Trump reportedly unwittingly called Jared Kushner an idiot
Former President Donald Trump reportedly predicted he'd lose the 2020 election at one point in March of that year, as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the United States. And, without realizing it, he reportedly cast the blame on his son-in-law and trusted adviser, Jared Kushner.
"[COVID-19] Testing is killing me!," Trump reportedly shouted in a phone call with then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, a forthcoming book titled Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History by Washington Post reporters Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damien Paletta reveals. "I'm going to lose the election because of testing!"
Trump reportedly then wondered "what idiot had the federal government" take charge of coronavirus testing in the U.S. "Uh, do you mean Jared?," Azar responded, referring to Kushner, who just a few days before the call "had vowed to take charge of a national testing strategy with the help of the private sector," Abutaleb and Paletta write. Read more details from their book at The Washington Post.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Oscars jump to YouTube after decades at ABCSpeed Read The awards show will be broadcast worldwide on YouTube starting in 2029
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Why does White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles have MAGA in a panic?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Trump’s all-powerful gatekeeper is at the center of a MAGA firestorm that could shift the trajectory of the administration
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
‘It’s another clarifying moment in our age of moral collapse’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Trump wants to build out AI with a new ‘Tech Force’The Explainer The administration is looking to add roughly 1,000 jobs
