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."
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.
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."
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.
-
Israel strikes Iran, killing military and nuclear chiefs
Speed Read Israeli officials said the attack was a 'preemptive' strike on Iran's nuclear program
-
Israel deports Thunberg after seizing Gaza aid boat
speed read The Swedish activist was delivering food and medical aid to Palestine, highlighting the growing humanitarian crisis there
-
Colombian senator shot on streets of Bogotá
speed read Miguel Uribe Turbay, who has announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election, was shot at a rally
-
Trump says Putin vowed retaliation for Kyiv strike
speed read The Russian president intends to respond to Ukraine's weekend drone strikes on Moscow's warplanes
-
Dutch government falls over immigration policy
speed read The government collapsed after anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders quit the right-wing coalition
-
South Korea elects liberal Lee as president
speed read Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, was elected president following months of political instability in the wake of Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment
-
Nationalist wins tight Polish presidential election
speed read Karol Nawrocki beat Rafal Trzaskowski in Poland's presidential runoff election
-
Ukraine hits Russia's bomber fleet in stealth drone attack
speed read The operation, which destroyed dozens of warplanes, is the 'biggest blow of the war against Moscow's long-range bomber fleet'