President Trump on Friday declined to say whether he would grant a waiver for Jared Kushner should new rules place his son-in-law in jeopardy losing his temporary security clearance.
“That will be up to General Kelly,” Trump said during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Kelly, who serves as chief of staff to Trump, issued a memo earlier this month recommending that the White House move away from granting interim security clearances to staffers whose background checks have not reached completion. Kushner is one of several aides in the West Wing who are currently operating on a temporary clearance, and the White House has repeatedly refused to say whether he could lose his clearance in the coming weeks.
“General Kelly respects Jared a lot and General Kelly will make that call,” Trump repeated on Friday, gesturing toward his top aide, who was seated in the front row of the East Room.
“I won’t make that call,” he said.
But Trump seemingly urged Kelly to keep Kushner on regardless of possible changes to the security clearance process, noting that his son-in-law has “done an outstanding job” inside the administration even though he’s “been treated very unfairly” by the president’s political opponents.
Kelly’s recommendations were set to take effect on Friday, amid continued questions about the number of staffers who currently lack permanent security clearances and what will change for them moving forward.
