Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner earned at least £27.6 million in outside income last year, new disclosures show

Their minimum income was lower last year than it was in 2017, the year they entered government service

Michelle Ye Hee Lee,Anu Narayanswamy
Saturday 01 August 2020 12:28 BST
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Jared Kushner listens as Ivanka Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on 18 July
Jared Kushner listens as Ivanka Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on 18 July (The Washington Post)

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner earned at least $36.2m (£27.6m) as they served in the White House last year, reporting a boost in income from some companies they own that hold residential and commercial properties, new disclosures released Friday show.

Donald Trump’s daughter and her husband, who both serve as top advisers to him, reported a minimum combined income that was at least $7m (£5.3m) higher than in 2018, when they reported making at least $29m (£22.1m), according to their personal financial disclosures, which they are required to file annually.

Their minimum income was lower last year than it was in 2017, the year they entered government service, when they reported earning at least $82m (£62.6m), the disclosures show.

However, it is impossible to determine the exact amount that the couple earned or their net worth, because documents they are required to file with the Office of Government Ethics only require administration officials to report the worth of assets and liabilities in ranges.

Still, the filings, which were submitted last month and released Friday, show that the couple continue to collect huge sums from their outside businesses even as they work inside the administration. Their combined income last year ranged from $36.2m (£27.6m) to $157m (£119.9m), according to a Washington Post analysis of the disclosures.

The White House and an attorney for Mr Kushner did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday evening.

Like his father-in-law, who refused to sell his private company when he entered the White House, Mr Kushner has retained partial ownership of his family-run real estate business, Kushner Companies. While he relinquished day-to-day control of the company, the arrangement has drawn criticism from government ethics experts, who say it opens the doors to conflicts of interest and possible influence from foreign entities.

Ivanka Trump initially held onto her namesake clothing and jewellery brand when she joined the administration, but shut it down in July 2018 amid a political backlash that led several national retailers to drop her line.

Her income from the brand has declined by millions since 2018, when she reported earning between $1m (£764,213) and $5m (£3.8m) from the company. In 2019, she earned between $100,001 (£76,422) and $1m in rent or royalties, according to the new disclosures.

For the third year in a row, Ms Trump reported earning $3.9m (£2.9m) from her stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, a fixed annual amount she gets from revenue produced by the property, which serves as a hub for the president’s supporters and those with business before the administration.

The couple reported between $22m (£16.8m) and $110m (£84m) in liabilities, including a new debt that they hold jointly with members of an entity called Times Square Associates, valued at $5m (£3.8m) to $25m (£19.1m), the disclosures show.

They reported between $203.8m (£155.7m) and $782.8m (£598.2m) in assets in 2019, compared to 2018, when they reported between $181m (£138.3m) and $755m (£576.9m), the Post analysis of their disclosures found.

The Washington Post

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