When Jared Kushner Was Battling a Deadly Disease in the White House: "In the Hands of God"

In his memoir, Breaking History: A White House Memoir, Jared Kushner, a former White House senior advisor and the husband of Ivanka Trump, revealed his silent battle with thyroid cancer during his tenure in the West Wing. The New York Times provided a glimpse into Kushner's health journey, as detailed in the memoir.

The revelation unfolds in the midst of Kushner's professional obligations, as he recounted, "On the morning that I traveled to Texas to attend the opening of a Louis Vuitton factory, White House physician Sean Conley pulled me into the medical cabin on Air Force One." It was a stark moment of vulnerability for Kushner. "Your test results came back from Walter Reed," Conley informed him. "It looks like you have cancer. We need to schedule a surgery right away."

Kushner, 41, chose to keep his diagnosis a secret, confiding only in his wife, Ivanka Trump, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and two aides. He strategically scheduled the surgery a week before Thanksgiving, aiming to minimize his absence from the office and maintain an outward semblance of normalcy. "That way, I would miss the least amount of time in the office. My absence might even go unnoticed. That's how I wanted it," he explains, as per People.

The memoir detailed the emotional toll of the ordeal as Kushner grappled with the potential long-term impact on his voice due to the removal of a substantial part of his thyroid. The cancer, caught early, required surgery, prompting Kushner to focus on work as a distraction from the impending medical intervention. "When I did think about it, I reminded myself that it was in the hands of God and the doctors and that whatever happened was out of my control," he reflects.

Despite keeping the diagnosis from his father-in-law, former President Donald Trump, Kushner found himself in the Oval Office the day before the surgery. Trump, aware of the impending procedure, reassured Kushner, saying, "I know everything. I understand that you want to keep these things quiet. I like to keep things like this to myself as well. You'll be just fine. Don't worry about anything with work. We have everything covered here." 

Upon the announcement that Kushner was writing a book about the Trump White House, critics online quickly expressed their disapproval, with some humorously suggesting that his upcoming book would be 'fiction.' When Inquired about the financial terms of the deal, a spokesperson for Broadside did not respond; the source close to Kushner stated they had no information on the matter.

Kushner's memoir, inked with Broadside Books, provides a unique perspective on his experiences within the Trump administration. Kushner's decision to keep the cancer diagnosis private emphasized that, unlike business entanglements, this was a personal and medical matter. Nonetheless, the memoir provides an intimate look into Kushner's journey, offering readers insights into the intersection of personal struggles and public responsibilities.