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Jared and Ivanka demanded meeting with Queen because they believed they were the US’s ‘royal family’, book claims

President’s daughter and son-in-law were known for trying to position themselves alongside senior and more experienced figures

Andrew Naughtie
Tuesday 28 September 2021 16:47 BST
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Donald Trump meets the Queen on a visit to the UK
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A new book from a veteran of the Trump administration has shed an unflattering new light on the mentality of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, whom the author claims viewed themselves as akin to royalty.

According to former press secretary Stephanie Grisham, whose Trump-era memoir I’ll Take Your Questions Now is soon to be published, the two were so convinced of their own significance that they tried to barge into a meeting with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

In the book, obtained by the Washington Post, the author describes how, during a visit by Donald Trump to the UK, the two tried to muscle in on the president and first lady’s meeting with the monarch – a move that would have been a breach of protocol.

“I finally figured out what was going on,” Ms Grisham says of the experience. “Jared and Ivanka thought they were the royal family of the United States.”

According to Ms Grisham, embarrassment was avoided when the two could not fit in the helicopter.

Mr Trump, for his part, described his relationship with the Queen as “incredible”, claiming on Fox News that “I think I can say I really got to know her because I sat with her many times and we had automatic chemistry, you will understand that feeling. There are those that say they have never seen the Queen have a better time, a more animated time.”

The book, one of many written by former staffers now professing disenchantment with the Trump family, is apparently extremely harsh on Ms Trump, whom it says was notorious for invoking “my father” in meetings and was described as a “princess” by both White House staff and the first lady herself.

Mr Kushner, meanwhile, is described as having become Mr Trump’s “real chief of staff” by the end of the administration. He was, Ms Grisham claims, known as the “slim reaper” because of his habit of taking over other staffers’ tasks even when he lacked the knowledge or experience to execute them, then leaving those originally given the job to clear up the mess.

Ms Grisham stepped into the role of press secretary at a time where the Trump administration’s relations with the media were at a new low. During her tenure, she closed down the White House’s daily press briefings altogether, and did not preside over a single one. Instead, she preferred to give TV interviews.

After less than a year in the job, she moved to become press secretary for Melania Trump; she was succeeded in the White House job by Kayleigh McEnany, who notoriously told the briefing room that “’I will never lie to you” before spending the last phase of the Trump administration propagating egregious and sometimes dangerous disinformation.

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