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7 jobs Jared Kushner is now doing for the United States of America

Trump’s son-in-law has been put in charge of pretty much everything.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
CREDIT: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Jared Kushner is a seemingly healthy 36-year-old man with outstanding grooming habits. He seems to otherwise have no particular qualifications for any position in government. Prior to Donald Trump’s campaign, Kushner had no experience working in policy or politics.

He is also, incidentally, married to Ivanka Trump, making him Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Kushner inherited a real estate business from his father, buying a large tower in Manhattan that nearly bankrupted the company. He bought the New York Observer for $10 million and used the paper to argue that his father-in-law was not an anti-Semite. In 2012, he tried unsuccessfully to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Now, Donald Trump has given Kushner more responsibility than possibly anyone else in the U.S. government. He is personally responsible for an astonishing variety of tasks, despite lacking any apparent knowledge or experience relevant to any of them.

1. Jared Kushner is responsible for negotiating peace in the Middle East.

Trump has tasked Kushner with brokering “a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.” “If you can’t produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can,” Trump told Kushner at an inauguration event.

2. Jared Kushner is responsible for solving America’s opioid epidemic.

Kushner will be responsible for crafting a strategy to combat “opioid abuse, a regular emphasis for Trump on the campaign trail.” He will oversee a commission devoted to the topic that will be headed by Chris Christie.

3. Jared Kushner is responsible for diplomacy with Mexico.

When Trump was set to deliver a speech on the border wall, Kushner, consulting with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, re-wrote the speech “to make it less damaging” to bilateral relationships with Mexico. Kushner then went to the Oval Office to brief Trump on the changes, which he ultimately agreed to. Mexican officials told CBS News that “Kushner is now handling everything between the two countries, and personally trying to keep the relationship from disintegrating further.”

4. Jared Kushner is responsible for diplomacy with China.

Kushner is the administration’s point person for diplomacy on China. He had repeatedly met with Chinese diplomats. The New York Times reports that “heavily involved in planning the presidential visit [of Xi Jinping], a senior official said, and took part in a National Security Council meeting… at which North Korea and China were discussed.”

5. Jared Kushner is responsible for reforming care for veterans.

Kushner will also dedicate time to “reimagining Veterans Affairs.” This was also a top priority for Trump on the trail, who repeatedly pledged to take better care of veterans.

6. Jared Kushner is responsible for reforming the criminal justice system.

Kushner traveled to the Capital building this week to represent the administration in a discussion of criminal justice reform with two key Senators, Buzzfeed reported.

7. Jared Kushner is responsible for reinventing the entire government and making it work like a business.

Trump recently put Kushner in charge of the “White House Office of American Innovation.” The new office “is designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington, float above the daily political grind and create a lasting legacy for a president.” It’s task, according to Kushner is to make the entire U.S. government “run like a great American company.”

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As he loads Kushner up with tasks, Trump has failed to nominate people for many key roles in the administration. Trump has failed to even nominate a candidate for 491 of the 553 key administration positions that require Senate approval.

The White House did announce one high-profile new staffer this week. Trump’s daughter Ivanka will officially be an Assistant to the President.