Jared Kushner Kept Cancer Secret, Even From President Trump

He was treated for thyroid cancer during Trump presidency
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 26, 2022 2:00 AM CDT
Updated Jul 26, 2022 6:01 AM CDT
Jared Kushner Kept Cancer Diagnosis Secret
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner arrive for the funeral of Ivana Trump, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in New York.   (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Jared Kushner had a "substantial part" of his thyroid removed due to thyroid cancer while he worked in his father-in-law's White House, he reveals in a memoir that will be published next month. Kushner, who served as one of former President Trump's senior advisers, writes in an excerpt provided to the New York Times that the cancer was detected in October 2019. Doctors "concluded that I needed surgery to remove an unusual growth in my thyroid, and we scheduled the operation for the Friday before Thanksgiving,” he wrote. “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 writes that he worked hard to keep the diagnosis under wraps. "This was a personal problem and not for public consumption," he wrote, adding that the only people at the White House he informed were his wife, then-White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and two of his aides. He didn't even tell his father-in-law, but somehow Trump found out and called him in to discuss it the day before the surgery. Asked how he knew, Trump replied, according to Kushner, "I'm the president. 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.” (More Jared Kushner stories.)

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