Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner earned at least US$81 million last year, despite busy White House roles
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner may be working as White House advisers, but the couple isn’t doing too badly with their side gigs, bringing in at least US$81 million of outside income.
Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a top White House aide, pulled in at least US$69 million in income last year, much of it from his own family’s far-flung real estate empire, financial disclosure forms filed Monday show.
Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser, reported making more than US$12 million last year from companies where she held a position, according to her financial disclosure form. That income included US$3.9 million from the Trump International Hotel located in Washington and US$2 million in salary and severance from the Trump Organisation.
Ivanka Trump and Kushner resigned positions with their companies to take on prominent, yet unpaid, roles in her father’s administrations, but the disclosure shows how they continue to financially benefit from an array of outside ventures.
Kushner’s income, for instance, included more than US$6 million from Quail Ridge, a Plainsboro, New Jersey, apartment complex the Kushner company, now run by his relatives, acquired last year.
While Kushner has dropped some of his stake in his family’s real estate business, he still receives income from trusts invested in Kushner real estate ventures.
It’s hard to determine the couple’s precise income last year because federal officials report their assets, income and liability in broad ranges only.
The form shows Ivanka Trump also collected nearly US$290,000 in advance payments for a 2017 book she wrote titled Women Who Work. The book, published by Penguin Random House, included contributions from prominent businesswomen and political leaders.
Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for the couple’s ethics lawyer Abbe Lowell, said Trump and Kushner are abiding by government ethics rules.
“Since joining the administration, Mr Kushner and Ms Trump have complied with the rules and restrictions as set out by the Office of Government Ethics,” Mirijanian said in a statement. “As to the current filing which OGE also reviews, their net worth remains largely the same, with changes reflecting more the way the form requires disclosure than any substantial difference in assets or liabilities.”
