Jeffries and Kushner Meet Privately as Midterm Attacks Fly
"President Trump’s son-in-law and the man in line to be speaker of a Democratic-led House discussed how Democrats and the administration could work together.
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, met privately in recent weeks with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and top outside adviser, and discussed potential areas of common ground, according to five people with knowledge of the meeting.
The rare engagement was held in a private space in New York City, offered up by a mutual friend of the two men, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting and a third who was briefed on it. They and others were granted anonymity to discuss a meeting about which they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Through aides, neither man would comment on the session, which was described by one person with knowledge of it as a broad conversation on a range of topics. Still, its timing underscored that those around Mr. Trump were well aware of the likelihood of a Democratic-led House, and trying to foster as much of a working relationship as possible before any change. Mr. Jeffries is in line to be the speaker, were Democrats to win the majority.
Democrats and the president have been savaging each other on the campaign trail with increasing fury as the midterm elections approach, and as Republicans are fighting to retain their thin House and Senate majorities.
Mr. Trump has called Mr. Jeffries a “thug,” and at a May campaign event referred to him as a “low IQ” person who had inspired him to deride Democrats as the “Dumocrats.” Mr. Jeffries routinely suggests that Mr. Trump is not only extreme but corrupt, vowing that Democrats would “hold the crooks accountable” if they won control.
The private get-together was described by one of the people as a catch-up for Mr. Kushner and Mr. Jeffries. The two men have stayed in touch since they worked together on a criminal justice bill midway through Mr. Trump’s first term.
During the recent meeting, the pair discussed housing, immigration and the high cost of living as potential areas of common ground. Mr. Kushner suggested that Mr. Jeffries should meet with the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, two people with knowledge of the meeting said.
The likelihood of any compromises between the White House and Democrats on those issues seems remote.
Mr. Trump this year refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill in part because he said it was “Warren centric,” referring to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, its top Democratic champion. And he has repeatedly expressed openness to a deal with Democrats on immigration, only to back away from any such agreement. He successfully lobbied Republicans to abandon a bipartisan border security bill in 2024.
White House officials and an aide to Mr. Kushner did not respond to messages seeking comment.
In a statement, Mr. Jeffries did not acknowledge the meeting, but suggested that the only way Democrats would cut deals with the administration would be if Republicans were willing to come their way on cost-of-living issues, his party’s top priority.
“Throughout this Congress, Republicans have adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach to governing that has failed the American people,” he said.
He added: “In every conversation that we have with the Trump administration, we will continue to make it explicitly clear that the affordability crisis is not a hoax, and nothing short of transformational policy change is acceptable. We are fighting for an affordable America. The question is whether Republicans will join us.”
Mr. Kushner, who worked as a senior West Wing adviser in the president’s first term, is no longer formally part of Mr. Trump’s government. He has been deeply involved in the president’s efforts to resolve the war with Iran that Mr. Trump began, to enforce a cease-fire in Gaza and to bring an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He and Mr. Jeffries also met last year, according to two people with knowledge of that conversation.
The meeting came as nearly all polls revealed Republicans to be at a disadvantage in the midterms, and showed how members of Mr. Trump’s inner circle were digesting what a Democratic majority next year could look like.
Should that happen, Mr. Jeffries would be under intense pressure from progressives to use his power as a check on Mr. Trump, including through aggressive oversight.
Mr. Kushner is frequently consulted by a number of Mr. Trump’s advisers, and he has told people that if anything bipartisan is to get done with Congress, Mr. Jeffries is the most serious person among Democratic leaders. Ms. Wiles, he has said, is the most serious inside the West Wing.
But with Republicans in control of both chambers, Mr. Trump has mostly steered around Congress in his second term, trampling its powers and prerogatives. He has faced little pushback from G.O.P. leaders.
Should Democrats win the House, Mr. Jeffries would have to balance the need to keep the government funded with Democratic calls to defy Mr. Trump at every turn, and possible pleas to impeach him for a third time.
Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Trump have danced around questions about what their relationship could look like next year should Democrats take control.
“I think he’s a nice guy,” Mr. Trump told Punchbowl News in a recent interview, when asked about Mr. Jeffries. “I’d probably get along with him very well.”
Mr. Trump pointed to a meeting with Mr. Jeffries in the Oval Office last fall — the only one they have had in his second term — and described it as a positive one.
In fact, during that meeting, which was billed as a bid to avert a government shutdown, the president positioned hats with a “Trump 2028” logo directly in front of Mr. Jeffries and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, trolling the Democrats with the suggestion that he would run for a third term in violation of the Constitution.
Afterward, Mr. Trump posted an A.I.-generated meme of a mustachioed Mr. Jeffries wearing a sombrero, drawing an angry response from the House minority leader, who called the image racist and dared Mr. Trump to insult him next time “to my face.”
Soon after the meeting, the government shutdown began.
This year, Mr. Jeffries has remained noncommittal about any plans to pursue a third impeachment of the president, and has not discussed publicly what oversight could look like if his party were to win the majority.
“We’ve not ruled anything in and not ruled anything out in terms of accountability,” he told The New York Times in an interview last month, noting that his focus would be on forcing out major Trump officials.
“We’ve got to make sure we continue to get rid of toxic Trump cabinet secretaries,” he said. “Pete Hegseth, in my view, should be next on the list.”
Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times."
