We are now in the seventh month of the roller-coaster presidency of Donald J. Trump.
The daily news out of Trump world is more often than not distracting and at times annoying.
How many tweets can one person send in a 24-hour period?
Each day we find that out.
How many Trump family members are in hot water because of lack of political smarts?
Is there any way to cut down on the noise from the White House so that we can focus on our personal lives?
Poor Ivanka.
If she sits in the president’s seat at the G20 Conference there is a bombardment of criticism.
If the President’s son-in-law carelessly forgets about a handful of meetings with foreign country representatives, he is treated to a blizzard of condemnation from all quarters and is forced to hire his own counsel.
In fairness to this power couple, who were determined to help Mr. Trump, they have had little success.
Whether we are Democrats or Republicans, we all liked the idea that the Kushners would help tame the tweeting beast and give us a little respite.
The first few weeks of their residence in Washington held out the promise that President Trump would listen to their advice and tone things down.
On a rare occasion that may have happened, but overall their mercy flight to the capital has been a bust.
Maybe the Kushners have had some success, but the events of the past few weeks don’t seem to show that Mr. Trump has any restraint.
The Kushner husband and wife team are an attractive pair.
They move in many prominent circles and have many influential friends, a number of whom are Democrats. They don’t deserve to be caught up in the swamp that Mr. Trump promised to clean up.
Each one of them is a high-powered individual who possess lots of talent in business development and other skills.
However, Washington D.C. is not the place for them to be able to leave their imprint on anything.
Washington is like that hungry plant in “Little Shop of Horrors.”
It consumes your daily life and entraps you in all kinds of situations that you never anticipated.
Seven months ago, Ivanka Trump was a busy dealmaker selling her own branded merchandise.
Her business was on the verge of growing dramatically, if she stayed home and took care of it.
Jared is a smart and aggressive real estate star.
Not all of his deals are a success, but he has the skills to make a lot of money and perpetuate the family name.
He has serious problems with his trophy building at 666 Fifth Ave. and they could use his undivided attention.
There is no doubt that Jared has enjoyed some business successes, but he knows nothing about the ways of Washington and the many bad tricks it can play on you.
Builders have all kinds of casual meetings and get no grief.
Attend a few Trump Tower meetings with an unknown group of people and you are beaten up by the press.
Since Jan. 20, Kushner has been assigned to a portfolio that should be handled by no less than 12 people.
To date, Kushner has been given the following assignments.
He is in charge of making peace in the Middle East, an impossible task.
As part of his government reform duties, he is handling the opioid crises and is working with the private sector on improving government’s use of data and technology.
In addition, he is acting as the President’s liaison to China and Mexico.
Can a 36 year old take on all of these challenges and have any chance of succeeding?
If my father or father-in-law became President of the United States, I would desperately want them to succeed.
But Donald J. Trump is not a man who is willing to listen to a broad range of people, including family.
He answers to himself and can be easily swayed by the last person leaving the room.
So Ivanka and Jared can stay and tough it out or leave and save the Trump brand for future generations.
