Trump reportedly thinks listening to Jared Kushner has hurt him politically

Donald Trump and Jared Kushner.
(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump reportedly isn't going to lean on his son-in-law Jared Kushner's advice so much going forward, Axios reports.

Three sources with direct knowledge of Trump's thinking told Axios that Trump has come to the conclusion that listening to Kushner frequently in the past has hurt him politically. Instead, it sounds like the president will now rely more on his own gut.

The driving force behind the change is reportedly Kushner's insistence that Trump support criminal justice reform legislation known as the First Step Act in 2018. Per Axios, Trump, who was never very enthusiastic about the bill, now regrets following Kushner's lead on the issue.

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A White House official rejected the idea Trump was pulling away from his son-in-law and senior adviser, arguing "numerous anonymous sources" have failed for three years to drive the two apart. But when it comes to criminal justice, at least, Trump has indeed ramped up his support for law enforcement and appears to be re-embracing the role of a tough-on-crime president amid nationwide protests against police brutality. Read more at Axios.

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Tim O'Donnell

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.