Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor to and son-in-law of ex-president Donald Trump, has stated that the latter is "obviously thinking" about running again for the Oval Office. In his interview with Sky News, Kushner said Trump asked him about such a prospect, which he called "tricky", but refused to delve into the details.
Kushner said that "nobody can speak" for Trump on the matter of his potential presidential bid except for the ex-POTUS himself. Still, Trump's son-in-law suggested that the former president at the very least considers such an option and added that he is "a very flexible thinker."
The former presidential adviser, who also led the Office of American Innovation between 2017 and 2021, further stated that Trump 'hates" what he sees is happening in the US after his departure from the White House.
"You know, he had the economy running so well. He filled the hole economically that was caused by COVID. He got us out of it with the vaccine. And again, we had peace in Europe, peace in the world. And now you have a war in Ukraine," he said.
Kushner went on to suggest that should Trump have been re-elected in 2020, the conflict in Ukraine would not have taken place at all.
FBI Mar-a-Lago Raid is 'an Issue of Paperwork'
The former president's son-in-law dismissed the importance of the August FBI raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, where they were searching for any classified docs the former president might have failed to hand over to the National Archives.
Kushner said it was "an issue of paperwork" and suggested it should have been resolved in a more low-key way - between the Department of Justice and Trump, without the involvement of the law enforcement. He also downplayed unconfirmed media reports that the FBI found "top secret//sci" docs in the former president's estate, which were supposed to be delivered to the National Archives after Trump left office.
"I don't know what he took or what he didn't take but I think right now we're relying on leaks to the media. I've seen a lot of allegations made by the media over my four years that turned out not to be true […] Let's wait until we know the facts. And then we'll see what the right way to go is," Kushner said.
The FBI's raid became the first in US history to target a former American president. Trump has repeatedly mulled running again in 2024 over the past two years, as he continued to actively criticize the Joe Biden administration – a level of political involvement untypical for a former US president.
And yet, Trump never officially confirmed running in 2024 or even planning a campaign for it. His influence in the Republican Party remains high after two years out of the Oval Office and many candidates for congressional seats in the 2022 midterm election won primaries in their states based in part on his recommendation..