White House Official Says ‘Javanka and Kelly Are Locked in a Death Match’: ‘Only One Survives’
The ongoing battle royale going down between President Donald Trump’s chief of staff — retired four-star General John Kelly — and his daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka & Jared Kushner, ratcheted up to 11 this week.
Kelly, who has long bristled at Jared & Ivanka’s position in the White House as both senior advisers and family members of the president, reportedly targeted Kushner by downgrading his security clearance on Friday from ‘Interim Top Secret’ to ‘Interim Secret.’
The move, which preceded an avalanche of embarrassing news coverage for Kushner, has pitched Kelly against the Trump family, according to a new report from Axios:
The Trump family — and the president’s oldest son, Don Jr., in particular — was angry about the overwhelmingly negative TV coverage about Jared Kushner last night, and feels White House Chief of Staff Kelly is hanging Jared out to dry, a source familiar with the situation tells Axios.
The showdown even led one White House official to tell Axios:
Javanka and Kelly are locked in a death match. Two enter. Only one survives.
It’s hard to see how Kushner recovers from this brutal blow to his authority in the White House. In the wake of word his security clearance was downgraded, the Washington Post dropped a stunning report that a number of foreign officials “have privately discussed ways they can manipulate” Kushner, “by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience.”
What’s more, the New York Times reported that Kushner’s “official portfolio inside the West Wing, especially with regard to his globe-trotting foreign affairs work on behalf of President Trump, is expected to be sharply reduced.”
That just about dashes high hopes that the young real estate scion would bring peace to the Middle East.
[Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
