During the campaign, Trump Jr met with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower— a meeting that the Senate Intelligence Committee and the special counsel Robert Mueller are investigating as part of their probes into Kremlin meddling in the election.

As a staunch and loyal advocate for his father, Trump Jr also frequently stirs up controversy and offence on social media.

The president’s son, Eric Trump

Eric, 34, was active in the Trump 2016 campaign and has since remained a top executive at the Trump Organisation with his brother.

Trump campaign associate Brad Parscale called Eric a “joint deputy campaign manager” along with his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, whose approvals were required for every decision before the 2016 election.

He, too, is a loyal advocate for his father, occasionally appearing on news programmes and also defending him on social media.

Private-equity billionaire Stephen Schwarzman

The Blackstone Group CEO, who counts Mitt Romney and other billionaires as his friends, came under fire for advising the Trump administration after the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August.

Schwarzman recruited CEOs to join Trump’s business advisory council shortly after he took office and chaired the group. Nearly the entire group resigned following the Charlottesville backlash.

Trump disbanded the council, but Schwarzman still informally advises him.

Fox News CEO Rupert Murdoch

The media mogul not only owns Trump’s favourite channel, but has also reportedly advised Trump on staffing decisions, including urging Trump to fire his former chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Murdoch and Trump had a fiery disagreement over policy concerning Silicon Valley, according to a former Trump aide’s tell-all book, but they remain close associates.

When Murdoch agreed to sell parts of 21st Century Fox to Disney, Trump reportedly called him to make sure Fox News would not be touched.

Real-estate billionaire and Trump 2016 campaign fundraiser Tom Barrack

Barrack is Trump’s close friend and long-time adviser whom the special counsel Robert Mueller recently interviewed by as part of the investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 campaign.

Barrack described himself as one of Trump’s “few Arab American friends”, who can disagree with his policy and not damage their close relationship.

Patriots owner and billionaire Robert Kraft

Despite being a publicly known lifelong Democrat, Kraft is a close friend of Trump’s who donated US$1 million to his 2016 campaign and gave him his own Super Bowl ring after the Patriots’ 2017 victory.

When asked about his loyalty to Trump, Kraft said the two were brought together after his wife’s death when Trump called him every week for the next year.

Fox News host Sean Hannity

Hannity is one of Trump’s favorite on-air personalities and an increasingly important but informal adviser to his White House.

Their relationship has blossomed from Trump’s occasional appearances on Fox News, where he commented on things like former President Barack Obama’s birthplace, to night-time telephone calls that apparently act as a sort-of therapy for Trump.

Hannity reportedly calls Trump almost every night before bed, according to New York Magazine.

Who else could be on the list?

Though New York Magazine didn’t mention them specifically, other members of Trump’s large family are likely on the cleared callers list, too.

First lady Melania Trump has her offices in the East Wing of the White House, and would automatically be on such a list.

Daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, are White House advisers, so they don’t have to call the switchboard to reach the Oval Office. They can just walk down the hall.

Other names on the list probably include:

daughter Tiffany Trump

son Barron Trump

daughter-in-law Lara Trump

(soon-to-be-ex) daughter-in-law Vanessa Trump

his nine grandchildren

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