Jared Kushner’s White House takeover is finally complete

Inside the West Wing, Kushner has both eliminated opponents and installed acquiescent officials. “Jared was very frustrated with [Reince] Priebus and John Kelly,” a Republican close to the White House, said. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney “was Jared’s pick,” the source said, and has allowed Kushner to function as de facto chief of staff. “Mick has decided not to be in control,” a former West Wing official said. “Jared treats Mick like the help. There’s no pushback,” a prominent Republican said. John Bolton, who recently mocked Kushner in a private speech, has been replaced by Robert O’Brien, a Kushner ally. Sources say that Vice President Mike Pence and his advisers don’t challenge Kushner after a string of leaks that Kushner wanted to replace Pence on the ticket with Nikki Haley. “Pence people look at Jared apprehensively. Pence treats Jared as a peer,” said former Trump aide Sam Nunberg. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.)

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One remaining opponent is Kellyanne Conway. Kushner has so far unsuccessfully lobbied Trump to fire Conway because of her husband’s attacks on Trump. Kushner, though, recently prevailed over Conway’s objections that Trump didn’t need to set up a White House war room, a source told me. Trump brought on former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi and Treasury Department spokesperson Tony Sayegh to run a daily messaging operation from a basement office underneath the West Wing. “Kellyanne hates Bondi,” a Republican close to the White House said. “Jared pushed to get a war room because congressional Republicans said they needed it.” (Reached for comment, Conway said she and Bondi “have been friends for years and years.”)

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