The Person Jared Kushner Surprisingly Didn't Reveal His Cancer Diagnosis To
In a shocking revelation, Jared Kushner, son-in-law and former senior advisor to former President Donald Trump, divulged that he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer during his tenure in the White House, per an excerpt from his upcoming memoir (via The New York Times). In "Breaking History: A White House Memoir," Kushner recalled suffering from the illness in October 2019, a time when he was heavily involved in U.S. trade talks with China. "As this high-wire act of trade talks with the Chinese progressed, I had to confront an unexpected and frightening personal problem," Kushner described, adding that he broke the news to wife Ivanka Trump the next day. "With as much confidence as I could conjure, I told her not to be concerned," he wrote.
The next morning, White House physician Sean Conley informed Kushner that his test results were positive and "to schedule a surgery right away." As Kushner recalled, the operation "removed a substantial part of my thyroid," with doctors warning that temporary changes to his voice could occur. "Luckily, the impact was minimal," Kushner wrote, adding that, prior to his surgery, "every night, before I went to bed, I lingered for a few extra moments in my children's rooms."
If all this comes as surprising news to you, there was even one family member whom Kushner left in the dark about his diagnosis.
Jared Kushner hid his cancer diagnosis from his father-in-law
Jared Kushner tried to keep his thyroid cancer diagnosis hidden from father-in-law Donald Trump. Diagnosed in 2019, while Donald was still POTUS, Kushner wrote in his August memoir "Breaking History: A White House Memoir" (via by The New York Times) that, besides wife Ivanka Trump and a few other inner-circle staffers, "I didn't tell anyone at the White House—including the president."
Nonetheless, Donald found out the day before Kushner's surgery, pulling his son-in-law aside to ask if he was nervous about the operation. "'Are you nervous about the surgery?' he asked," Kushner wrote. When asked how he knew, Trump reportedly told Kushner, "I'm the president. I know everything," adding that he respected Kushner's desire to keep such matters private. "You'll be just fine. Don't worry about anything with work," Donald reportedly reassured.
Since leaving their White House posts in 2021, Kushner and Ivanka, along with their three children, have settled in the small Floridian town of Surfside, away from public scrutiny, per People. "They're really just settling into normal life and really enjoying it," an insider told the outlet. For Kushner, the source added, he has seized the opportunity to spend "a lot more time with his family," as past White House duties often prevented him from doing so.