Jeffries meets privately with Kushner on possible cooperation

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries privately met with Jared Kushner in Manhattan to discuss possible areas of cooperation, an unusual conversation between one of President Donald Trump’s sharpest Democratic critics and a close Trump family adviser.

A person familiar with the meeting confirmed it to NBC News after The New York Times first reported the gathering. The person, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private meeting, did not say when it took place or describe what was discussed.

The New York Times reported that the meeting happened “in recent weeks” and that Jeffries and Kushner discussed “housing, immigration and the high cost of living.” The Times also reported that a mutual friend offered the New York meeting space.

Jeffries, D-N.Y., is the top Democrat in the House and is widely expected to become speaker if Democrats win the chamber in November’s midterm elections. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, served as a senior White House adviser during Trump’s first term and remains a close confidant of the president. NBC News reported that Kushner currently serves as a special envoy for peace missions focused largely on the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war, along with special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The White House and Jeffries’ office did not immediately respond to NBC News requests for comment. Jeffries later addressed the reported meeting in a statement cited by The Guardian, saying Republicans had pursued “a my-way-or-the-highway approach to governing that has failed the American people.”

“To stop the madness, we have repeatedly made clear that an extremist approach will not work and will be met with forceful opposition,” Jeffries said. “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. We are fighting for an affordable America. The question is whether Republicans will join us.”

The meeting drew criticism from some Democrats and Trump critics. Tommy Vietor, a former aide to President Barack Obama and co-host of the podcast Pod Save America, wrote that Kushner “has no actual government job” and said the only way Jeffries should work with him is “with demands for documents and subpoenas.” Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman from Illinois and outspoken Trump critic, posted, “Make this make sense,” while tagging Jeffries.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., took a more measured view on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I’m in favor of people meeting with whoever they want to discuss ideas,” he said. “But it’s one thing to have a meeting. It’s another thing to see something real come out of that.”

Jeffries and Kushner have worked together before. During Trump’s first term, Kushner championed the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill that Jeffries co-sponsored. The bipartisan measure was signed into law in 2018.

The latest meeting comes as Democrats hope to retake the House and Senate in the midterms. NBC News reported that Jeffries and committee leaders have pledged aggressive oversight of the Trump administration if Democrats win the House, including scrutiny of Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics, Trump’s Qatari-gifted jet, family business dealings and the White House ballroom.

The Guardian reported that Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee opened an investigation in April into Kushner’s financial conflicts of interest, focused on his private business raising money from Gulf nations while he served as a government peace envoy. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the committee’s top Democrat, wrote to Kushner at the time: “You cannot both be a diplomat and a financial pawn of the Saudi monarchy at the same time.”