Donald Trump is back from his first trip abroad as President, and while visiting Saudi Arabia, Europe, and the Middle East may have been welcome distractions from the trouble brewing back home, the controversy involving Russia has not disappeared during his absence. Friday’s added revelation that Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is a person of significant interest in the F.B.I.’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, is reportedly hastening plans for a major White House shakeup.
Kushner’s contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and a Russian banker have drawn the notice of investigators in both the F.B.I. and Congress. On Friday evening, The Washington Post further reported that Kushner had sought a direct communication backchannel with Moscow, and had suggested that Trump transition team members use Russian diplomatic facilities.
A few staff members close to the West Wing told The Washington Post that Trump is planning a reorganization of his senior staff, and also may build a “war room” inside the White House, similar to the one Bill Clinton made during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. According to one senior official, Steve Bannon is planning the war room with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former deputy campaign manager (who also investigated Bill and Hillary Clinton) David N. Bossie, among others.
This is a notable and ironic development: Kushner, who has often (and often incorrectly) been described as the so-called steadying hand on the president’s team of barroom brawlers, is now somewhat at the mercy of resurgent figures he had previously worked to push out of Trump’s circle. (During the campaign, Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, had reportedly convinced Trump to can Lewandowski, who had yanked a female reporter and was rumored to have been planting anti-Kushner stories in the press.) All this on the heels of Kushner’s advice call with Chris Christie—another Trumpworld figure largely banished by Kushner himself.
Per the Post, Trump is also thinking about changing the way the White House communicates with the public; one floated option combines more public Trump rallies, and a diminished role for Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who could begin officially sharing his role with Sarah Huckabee Sanders. (Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is also mentioned as a potential ouster, as an unlikely ambassador to Greece.)
Trump may start pushing smaller initiatives through Congress that may be easier to pass. He needs some wins, especially now. “If the White House and Congress have nothing in hand to tout by this summer, members of Congress are going to come back after their August recess freaking out,” one adviser told the paper.
