Despite Kelly and McMaster both brushing off Kushner's 'Russian back-channel' story as standard practice for new administrations, increasing controversy surrounding the president's son-in-law have reportedly prompted senior advisers to suggest it's time for Kushner to "take a step back."
After McMaster's comments brushing off the WaPo story as a non-story, DHS' Kelly did the reounds of Sunday political shows this morning confirming Kushner's back-channeling is "both normal and acceptable"...
However, this is just the latest in a series of stories - fake or not - that have surrounded the president's son-in-law and for some senior Trump advisers, enough seems to be enough.
As Axios reports, Jonathan Karl reports on ABC's "This Week" that people "very close to the president" think the Russia investigation's current focus on Jared Kushner means it's time for the president's son-in-law to "take a step back":
"Even if he is ultimately completed cleared, he is at the center of this investigation right now, and you hear people close to the president, quietly saying, is it too much and is it time for Jared to take a step back, maybe even take a leave of absence from the White House."
Why it matters: Some in the White House have long resented Kushner's influence, and now see an opportunity to sideline him. And Kushner allies have been noting that he and Ivanka have made no long-term commitments to the administration. But it's still far from clear that his spot in Trump's inner circle is at risk.
It is no secret that there has been (and continues to be, despite Trump's demands that it stops), a rift between Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon and Trimp son-in-law Jared Kushner.
One wonders if the pendulum is swinging back to a more nationalist White House once again as the Kushner-ou narrative contoinues to build.
Additionally, ABC News reports that Family members of President Trump, including his two sons, met for hours Thursday with Republican Party officials to discuss political strategy, ABC News has learned from sources with direct knowledge of the meeting. The president's sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric, in addition to Eric's wife, Lara, attended the meeting at Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., sources told ABC News.