A new book - based on hundreds of interviews - has made some explosive claims about the Trump family. Photo / Getty Images
A new book - based on hundreds of interviews - has made some explosive claims about the Trump family. Photo / Getty Images
Explosive new claims have been published about the ambitions of Donald Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner.
Kushner Inc., a reputed tell-all book by New York-based journalist Vicky Ward, delves into everything about the pair from Ivanka's relationship with her father to her alleged desire to one day be the person in the top job.
Based on 220 interviews — many of which are anonymous — Ward claims Ivanka is her father's "greatest weakness" and that she and her husband are power-hungry, manipulative and far more powerful in his administration than they may seem.
The White House has strongly denied the allegations in the book.
"It's sad, but not surprising, the media would spend time promoting a book based on shady anonymous sources and false information instead of all the incredible work Jared and Ivanka are doing for the country," Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
Multiple sources claimed to Ward that the President would pat his daughter on the bottom and stopped conversations to "ogle" her when she left the room.
"Multiple people noticed that (Ivanka would) regularly wander into the Oval Office, often with a child in tow, and talk to Trump in a singsong voice," Ward writes. "He'd call her 'baby' or pat her on the bottom.
"(Trump) sometimes stopped what he was doing to ogle (Ivanka) when she left the room. 'Doesn't she look great?' he would say to others in the room."
While it must be stressed that these quotes are based on anonymous sources, Trump does have a history of publicly making remarks about his daughter that might raise a few eyebrows.
During a 2006 appearance on The View, for example, he said: "If Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her."
Three years earlier, during an appearance on Howard Stern's radio show, he said his daughter had "the best body" and allowed the shock jock to refer to her as a "piece of ass".
"You know who's a great beauty? My daughter Ivanka," Stern later recalled Trump telling him. "Now she's a 10."
Mark Corallo, a former legal spokesman for the President, did go on the record telling Ward of the inappropriate things Trump allegedly said about his daughter.
Noting it was difficult "to get Trump's attention when Kushner and Ivanka were around", he imitated the President and said: "'Isn't Ivanka fabulous? I mean, is she not one of the best-looking women you've ever seen?'"
The book suggests Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner are just using their father's presidency to increase their status among influential people. Photo / Getty Images
Throughout his time in office, Ivanka and Jared have played key behind-the-scenes roles in Donald Trump's administration.
But according to Ward, neither of them actually share his populist policy, but are using the time to increase their access and reach among powerful and influential people.
"The two of them see this as a networking opportunity," a close associate told the journalist.
With what end goal in mind? According to Ward, Ivanka's ultimate ambition appears to be a presidential run of her own.
"Ivanka Trump has made no secret of the fact that she wants to be the most powerful woman in the world," she writes. "Her father's reign in Washington DC is, she believes, the beginning of a great American dynasty.
"She thinks she's going to be president of the United States," Gary Cohn told people after leaving the White House.
"Why should my daughter convert to marry anyone?" Trump is quoted as saying to an associate. At the wedding itself, he was reportedly shocked by some of the religious content, which included giving women shawls to cover their shoulders and gender-segregated dancing.
Jared's parents, Charles and Seryl Kushner, were described as "horrified" by the match. "Seryl and Charlie were dismayed at the idea of their son marrying outside the faith … Charlie and Seryl refused to even meet Ivanka," Ward writes.
At another point in the book, Ward suggests that — while Donald Trump liked his eldest daughter's partner, Jared Kushner — he found the boy a bit dweeby.
Trump would allegedly tell his friends "Why couldn't she have married Tom Brady?", referring to the famous American quarterback, and adding: "Jared is half the size of Tom Brady's forearm."
On the flip-side, Charles allegedly once said that Ivanka wanted to join his family because "she'd never had a close-knit family; it appeared that she never felt her parents desperately desired her presence as the dinner table, or for that matter, ever wanted her with them".
The relationship between Ivanka and Melania is difficult to define. The pair rarely speak about one another directly in media interviews and it's not common to see them pictured side-by-side.
Their closeness or lack thereof is rarely referenced in Ward's book, except for one part.
Ward claimed Ivanka had bagged an office for herself in the East Wing, which is traditionally the First Lady's domain.
A transition official was allegedly surprised to note that "Ivanka, or someone acting on her behalf, had stencilled in the corner office of the East Wing as 'Trump Family Office' while Melania did not appear to have an office".
Ward claims that Melania "put her foot down" and Ivanka was made to step aside.
That said, the few times they have referenced one another have been largely positive, suggesting the East Wing incident — if it did occur — was an isolated one.
In a 2016 Harper's Bizarre interview, Melania said of her husband's grown children: "They are grown-up. I don't see myself as their mother. I am their friend, and I'm here when they need me."
That same year, Ivanka praised her mother-in-law during an interview with People Magazine. "Melania is an unbelievable mother. It's pretty uncommon for wives of candidates to not be on the campaign trail every day. And she made a decision I totally respect, which is that she has a young son, he needs stability, he needs routine. My father's travelling so frequently, and she is an unbelievably consistent, loving and reliable figure in Barron's life."
She described Melania's treatment of Barron as a "great inspiration", saying she is "really remarkable".
In 2017, Melania's communications director Stephanie Grisham said that "Ivanka and Mrs. Trump have always shared a close relationship, and that continues today".
ON CLAIMS DONALD TRIED TO FIRE HIS CHILDREN
It was also noted that the President at one point instructed his former chief of staff John Kelly to fire Ivanka and Jared due to the bad media coverage they generated.
"Get rid of my kids; get them back to New York," Trump told Kelly, according to the book, complaining that they "didn't know how to play the game" with regards to the media.
Kelly allegedly said firing them would be a bad look for the Trump administration, so they instead tried to make life difficult enough for the pair so they'd resign on their own accord.
Kelly resigned from the administration in December last year.
Ward doubled down on these claims in an interview with CNN after the book was published.
"You can't underestimate the dangers of these two," she said of Ivanka and Jared.
"And I think that, actually, (Donald Trump) knows that … He understood that they were a liability to him. He hated the negative press they garnered, particularly over Jared's inability to fill out his security clearance forms. He also really hated it when they got all the negative press about using private email servers.
"Then they'll go and do something helpful and he drops the subject for a while. But the interesting thing is that John Kelly did what he was asked. He made life really unpleasant for Jared and Ivanka. They were ready to leave. And it was Trump who couldn't pull the trigger."
