Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, wrote in his forthcoming book that he was treated for thyroid cancer while serving in the White House.


What You Need To Know

  • Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, wrote in his forthcoming book that he was treated for thyroid cancer while serving in the White House

  • Kushner, 41, wrote in “Breaking History: A White House Memoir” he received the diagnosis in October 2019 as he was negotiating a trade deal with China

  • The former White House adviser said the cancer was caught early and his doctor “removed a substantial part of my thyroid” 

  • Kushner said he wanted to keep his diagnosis quiet, but word eventually reached the president

Kushner, 41, wrote in “Breaking History: A White House Memoir” he received the diagnosis in October 2019 as he was negotiating a trade deal with China.

“On the morning that I traveled to Texas to attend the opening of a Louis Vuitton factory, White House physician Sean Conley pulled me into the medical cabin on Air Force One,” Kushner wrote, according to multiple reports. “‘Your test results came back from Walter Reed,’ he said. ‘It looks like you have cancer. We need to schedule a surgery right away.'

“The next morning, I told Ivanka what I knew. With as much confidence as I could conjure, I told her not to be concerned. Whatever this was, we would find a way to work through it.”

Kushner said the cancer was caught early. Dr. Thomas Fahey at New York-Presbyterian Hospital concluded that surgery was needed, and Kushner scheduled the procedure for the Friday before Thanksgiving in order to miss the least amount of work, he wrote. 

Kushner said Fahey “removed a substantial part of my thyroid.” He added that doctors warned him the surgery could alter his voice, and it could have taken weeks or months for it to return to normal. 

“Luckily, the impact was minimal,” Kushner wrote. 

Kushner said he wanted to keep his diagnosis quiet. He initially told Conley not to tell anyone, including Ivanka and the president. Kushner said he only told four people at the White House — which included Ivanka, also an adviser, but not Donald Trump. 

Kushner said word eventually reached the president.

“The day before the surgery, Trump called me into the Oval Office and motioned for his team to close the door. ‘Are you nervous about the surgery?’ he asked,” Kushner wrote.

“How do you know about it?” Kushner responded.

“I’m the president,” Trump replied, according to Kushner. “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.”

Kushner said, before his surgery, he tried to focus on his work more so he wouldn’t think about the cancer. 

But it was more difficult to escape reality when he was at home. 

“Every night, before I went to bed, I lingered for a few extra moments in my children’s rooms,” the father of three wrote. “I watched them sleep without a care in the world. I felt guilty that I had been so distracted and absent over the previous few years.

“I was always at work or taking phone calls when they wanted to spend time with their dad. I missed plays and sporting events. I had promised myself that when my service in the White House ended, I’d make up for lost time. Now I was forced to confront that possibility that my time might be up. I prayed that the surgery would be successful.”

Broadside Books, the memoir’s publisher, did not respond to an email from Spectrum News on Tuesday seeking confirmation on the excerpts being reported. The New York Times was the first to report on Kushner’s cancer.

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