Jared Kushner says to understand Trump, study Alice in Wonderland's Cheshire Cat
President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner told author Bob Woodward that there are four texts a person should "absorb" in order to understand Trump, and one involves falling down a rabbit hole.
In his new book, Rage, Woodward writes that Kushner told him the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland can help a person grasp Trump's unconventional management style. "If you don't know where you're going, any path will get you there," Kushner paraphrased.
Woodward called Kushner an "ever-loyal cheerleader and true believer" of Trump, adding that "where others saw fickleness or even lies, Kushner saw Trump's constant, shifting inconsistency as a challenge to be met with an ever-adapting form of managing up."
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.
In addition to Alice in Wonderland, Kushner encourages people who want to understand Trump to read Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter; The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency; and a 2018 Wall Street Journal column by Peggy Noonan, in which she calls Trump "a living insult" and "a circus act." Kushner wasn't trying to insult Trump with his reading suggestions, Woodward says, but "when combined," the four texts paint Trump as "crazy, aimless, stubborn, and manipulative."
-
The elite falcon trade in the Middle EastUnder the Radar Popularity of the birds of prey has been ‘soaring’ despite doubts over the legality of sourcing and concerns for animal welfare
-
A running list of the international figures Donald Trump has pardonedin depth The president has grown bolder in flexing executive clemency powers beyond national borders
-
Mixed nuts: RFK Jr.’s new nutrition guidelines receive uneven reviewsTalking Points The guidelines emphasize red meat and full-fat dairy
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
-
Israel approves new West Bank settlementsSpeed Read The ‘Israeli onslaught has all but vanquished a free Palestinian existence in the West Bank’
-
US offers Ukraine NATO-like security pact, with caveatsSpeed Read The Trump administration has offered Ukraine security guarantees similar to those it would receive from NATO
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
-
Australia weighs new gun laws after antisemitic attackSpeed Read A father and son opened fire on Jewish families at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing at least 15
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
