Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and close adviser, met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who could become House speaker if Democrats recapture the majority in November, a source familiar with the meeting told CNN.
The pair gathered privately in New York in recent weeks to discuss how they may collaborate on key issues, such as immigration, housing and the cost of living, the source said.
During the meeting, which was first reported by the New York Times, Kushner suggested that Jeffries should also meet with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment on the meeting.
Jeffries has emerged as the frontrunner to become House Speaker if Democrats win the majority in the midterms, a possibility that the party sees as likely due to Trump’s sinking approval ratings amid the Iran war and economic concerns that have lately been underscored by the nation’s escalating debt.
“Throughout this Congress, Republicans have adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach to governing that has failed the American people,” Jeffries said in a statement provided to CNN. “The American people want bold change and that’s what House Democrats will deliver. 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.”
During a Fox News interview on Sunday, current Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed the notion that the meeting signaled an acknowledgement by President Donald Trump that he might have to work with a Democratic majority during the next two years.
“I’m telling you, we’re going to defy history and hold this majority,” Johnson said, explaining that Republicans believe they have to target 19 battleground seats in order to keep their razor thin margin over Democrats.
Kushner, he said, “is a smart guy and he hedges his bets.” But, the GOP leader added, the president’s son-in-law is not involved in “day-to-day” White House operations.
Jeffries has emerged as a vocal opponent of Trump in his second term, frequently bashing the president in television interviews and press conferences. He has not ruled out potentially impeaching Trump if House Democrats are in the majority next year, though he has repeatedly insisted the party is focused on lowering costs for Americans that he argues have been driven up by the president’s policies.