I’m sometimes wary of covering certain stories about Jared Kushner because I believe that some/many of those stories come directly from Jared Kushner. It’s widely believed that Kushner has a lot in common with his father-in-law, Emperor Bigly, in that they are two men obsessed with themselves and obsessed with reading and watching coverage about their actions. It’s widely believed that Kushner is the “unnamed source” for many stories in which he comes across as the only sane, competent person in any given room of the White House. So what do you make of this? Politico reports that Steve Bannon was/is close to quitting his job after repeated clashes and power struggles with Jared.

The man credited with honing Donald Trump’s populist message and guiding him into the White House has grown frustrated amid continued infighting in the West Wing, so much so that in recent weeks a top donor had to convince him to stay in his position.

Five people, including a senior administration official and several sources close to the president, tell POLITICO that Steve Bannon, one of Trump’s closest advisers, has clashed with the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who’s taken on an increasingly prominent portfolio in the West Wing. Bannon has complained that Kushner and his allies are trying to undermine his populist approach, the sources said.

Bannon has… butted heads with Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, who considers him an ideologue whose advice to Trump is making it harder for the president to win popular support for his agenda, according to people familiar with the dynamic.

The tension between the two is indicative of a larger power struggle in the White House as Kushner’s prominence and responsibility have ballooned. He has helped to expand the authority of two senior West Wing officials who, like him, are less ideological in nature: former Goldman Sachs executives Gary Cohn, who is now chairman of the National Economic Council, and Dina Powell, the deputy national security adviser for strategy. The national security directive removing Bannon from the NSC explicitly authorized Powell to attend the National Security Council’s Principals’ and Deputies’ Committee meetings.

[From Politico]

Politico goes on to say that it was a huge deal to Bannon that Kushner somehow manipulated the situation where Bannon was kicked off the National Security Council yesterday. Personally, I think Kushner is getting credit for something which was decided by other people. I think Kushner and Bannon clash all the time, of course, but Bannon’s removal from the NSC is probably more about the power struggles within the intelligence, security and defense communities. Still, Bannon has to take the fall and Kushner is being praised for attempting to drag his father-in-law to the center.

Incidentally, did you know that Kushner has just hired a new publicist? Apparently, Kushner hired Hollywood publicist Josh Raffel. Raffel will join the White House Office of American Innovation, the group that Kushner has been placed in charge of, the same office which is going to reorganize the government or something. Raffel is best known for his work as a studio publicist promoting horror films such as Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Get Out. Sounds about right.

Photos courtesy of Getty.