Jared Kushner is now reportedly overseeing construction of Trump's border wall
With the 2020 election less than a year away and his long-promised border wall nowhere near being completed, President Trump has turned to his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, to get things moving, current and former administration officials told The Washington Post.
Getting the wall up is one of Trump's top priorities going into 2020, officials said, and Kushner is now the point person, holding regular meetings at the White House with government officials and asking them to keep him updated on where the wall is being built and how much it is costing. He is especially concerned with the fact that the government needs to seize more than 800 pieces of private property in order to get 450 miles of barriers up by the end of next year, and he is pushing U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hurry up and get this done, the Post reports.
This is just the latest high-profile job for Kushner, who has also been tasked with brokering a Middle East peace deal and tackling criminal justice reform. Several officials told the Post he's in over his head, and unable to comprehend various aspects of the job, including the importance of having multiple agencies work on major projects. One official said Kushner took a "much more hands-on role in figuring out, mile by mile, how to get more wall up. It didn't help put wall up faster and cheaper. His interventions actually just created more inefficiency in the process."
Subscribe to 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.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 24, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - taped bananas, flying monkeys, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Spanish cop, 20 million euros and 13 tonnes of cocaine
In the Spotlight Óscar Sánchez Gil, Chief Inspector of Spain's Economic and Tax Crimes Unit, has been arrested for drug trafficking
By The Week UK Published
-
5 hilarious cartoons about the rise and fall of Matt Gaetz
Cartoons Artists take on age brackets, backbiting, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Global court issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu
Speed Read The International Criminal Court issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who stand accused of war crimes
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz bows out, Trump pivots to Pam Bondi
Speed Read Gaetz withdrew from attorney generation consideration, making way for longtime Trump loyalist Pam Bondi
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
GOP's Mace seeks federal anti-trans bathroom ban
Speed Read Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has introduced legislation to ban transgender people from using federal facilities
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bans
Speed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler group
Speed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published