Middle East | Official: Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner travels to Iraq

White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is visiting Iraq with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an official said.

Details about the trip to the Middle East with Gen. Joseph Dunford were not released. A senior administration official said Kushner wanted to see the situation in Iraq for himself and show support for the Iraqi government. The official wasn’t authorized to speak about confidential meetings by name and demanded anonymity.

Kushner’s West Wing portfolio is robust. He has been deeply involved with presidential staffing, recently launched a task force meant to modernize government using lessons drawn from the private sector, and has played the role of shadow diplomat, advising on relations with the Middle East, Canada and Mexico.

And though Kushner had no previous diplomatic or government experience, Trump also tasked him with trying to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

“If you can’t produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can,” Trump told Kushner at a gala a few days before his inauguration.

Kushner was also the latest Trump associate to be swept up into the ongoing probe into contacts with Russian officials. The White House confirmed last week that he had volunteered to be interviewed by the Senate intelligence committee. North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the committee’s chairman, said that Kushner would likely be under oath and would submit to a “private interview” about arranging meetings with the Russian ambassador and other officials.

Kushner is married to Trump’s oldest daughter, Ivanka. He was expected to have a major role in meetings later this week between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump’s winter retreat in Palm Beach, Florida.

The Iraq trip was first reported by The New York Times. AP