In a new book, Jared Kushner reportedly reveals he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while serving in the White House — and he didn't tell his father-in-law, former President Donald Trump.
Kushner's revelation was reported by The New York Times, which said he discloses it in a memoir that will be published next month. As the former Trump senior adviser describes it, he was pulled aside by White House physician Sean Conley on Air Force One one morning and told, "Your test results came back from Walter Reed. It looks like you have cancer. We need to schedule a surgery right away."
According to the book, Kushner's cancer was detected early in October 2019. He says he initially told Conley "don't tell anyone — especially my wife or my father-in-law," and a doctor determined he "needed surgery to remove an unusual growth" in his thyroid. Kushner writes that he scheduled the surgery for the Friday before Thanksgiving so he'd miss the least amount of work possible, and ultimately, a "substantial part" of his thyroid was removed.
Kushner's cancer diagnosis had never been revealed prior to this book. He writes that "this was a personal problem and not for public consumption," noting he never informed Trump about it, nor anyone else at the White House other than his wife, Ivanka Trump, two aides, and White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.
Despite this, Kushner writes that Trump found out about it on his own and said he'd "be just fine" before the surgery, telling him, "I'm the president. I know everything."