Jared Kushner alleges in a new memoir that former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly shoved Ivanka Trump out of the way that the former Commander of US Southern Command had both a bullying demeanour and a “Jekyll-and-Hyde” persona.
Mr Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, has rejected the allegation.
Mr Kushner, the son-in-law to former President Donald Trump, writes in Breaking History: A White House Memoir, that Mr Kelly shoved his wife out of the way after a turbulent meeting in the Oval Office, according to an excerpt obtained by The Washington Post. The memoir is slated for release next month.
The former senior advisor to Mr Trump writes that both he and his wife considered Mr Kelly to be “consistently duplicitous”.
He added that “only once did Kelly let his mask fully slip”.
“One day he had just marched out of a contentious meeting in the Oval Office”, Mr Kushner writes. “Ivanka was walking down the main hallway in the West Wing when she passed him. Unaware of his heated state of mind, she said, ‘Hello, chief”, Kelly shoved her out of the way and stormed by. She wasn’t hurt, and didn’t make a big deal about the altercation, but in his rage Kelly had shown his true character.”
Mr Kushner writes that Mr Kelly came to Ms Trump’s office in the White House about an hour later and offered “a meek apology, which she accepted”.
“I don’t recall anything like you describe”, Mr Kelly wrote in an email about Mr Kushner’s allegation, according to The Post. “It is inconceivable that I would EVER shove a woman. Inconceivable. Never happen. Would never intentionally do something like that. Also, don’t remember ever apologizing to her for something I didn’t do. I’d remember that.”
Mr Kushner adds in his memoir that Ms Trump’s Chief of Staff Julie Radford heard Mr Kelly apologize.
“It was the first and only time that Ivanka’s staff saw Kelly visit their second-floor corner of the West Wing”, Mr Kushner writes.
A spokesperson for Ms Trump told The Post that Mr Kushner’s version of events is correct. Ms Radford added that she saw Mr Kelly come to the office and that she heard the apology, the paper reported.
Mr Kelly first served as the Secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump administration and replaced Mr Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, around halfway into the first year of the presidency.
The retired general viewed his mission as bringing order to a chaotic White House, but some in the administration, such as Ms Trump and Mr Kushner, grew uncomfortable with the new rules. Those rules included notifying Mr Kelly of all their interactions with Mr Trump that were related to the work of the administration.
Mr Kelly became annoyed with Mr Kushner and Ms Trump, who he thought were undeterred in their efforts to avoid adhering to his command and find alternate ways of communicating with Mr Trump, The Post reported.
Mr Kushner writes that Mr Kelly appeared to not think much of Ms Trump, but would only reveal that in private, while in public he would convey “compliments to her face that she knew were insincere”.
“Then the four-star general would call her staff to his office and berate and intimidate them over trivial procedural issues that his rigid system often created”, Mr Kushner adds. “He would frequently refer to her initiatives like paid family leave and the child tax credit as ‘Ivanka’s pet projects.’ ”
Mr Kushner wrote about a moment in Beijing in 2017, when Mr Kelly fought with Chinese officials after an attempt was made to stop Mr Trump’s military aide carrying the nuclear football from attending a meeting alongside the president.
The briefcase holds the nuclear codes and comes with the president everywhere he goes.
Mr Kushner writes that the attempt from the Chinese security official “was an alarming diplomatic breach”.
“Kelly caught a glimpse of the scuffle and rushed toward the doorway, grabbing the Chinese officer by the neck and pinning him against the wall”, Mr Kushner writes. “‘You people are rude,’ he screamed. ‘The Chinese people are rude! This is terrible! This is not how you treat your guests!’ A protocol official rushed in, realizing the security officer’s mistake, and apologized profusely. But Kelly stormed away, boycotting the meeting and leaving a chair next to the president conspicuously empty.”
Mr Kushner said Mr Kelly later “regaled us with the story of what had just unfolded” and rejected an attempt to apologize by the Chinese chief of protocol.
Mr Kelly told The Post, similarly to Mr Kushner’s version of events, that the altercation took place when the Chinese official tried to get in the way of the bag despite knowing “that they have no right to inspect it or send it through a magnetometer”.
“The situation was already confrontational when I heard the commotion a distance away, moved to the location, and in no uncertain terms reminded them that they would not have access”, Mr Kelly wrote, according to the paper. “The Chinese officials on site elected to continue the confrontational approach until they were ‘convinced’ that we were correct. At that point the confrontation ended.”
“A few minutes later a Chinese (protocol I think) official came to our hold room and apologized to me. Issue over. Nothing after that”, Mr Kelly said.
Mr Kushner said he “finally understood” Mr Kelly after seeing him walking with the Chinese protocol boss “chummy as could be”.
“In that moment, I finally understood John Kelly”, Mr Kushner writes. “To him, everything was a game of establishing dominance and control. He made people feel small and unimportant to establish the relationship from a place of power. Then, with his position firmly established, he would charm and disarm, leaving people relieved that they were on his good side, but fearful of what would happen if they crossed him.”
