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Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner held private meeting ahead of midterms

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and presidential adviser Jared Kushner recently met in New York to discuss potential areas of cooperation as midterm elections approach.

Updated Aug 24, 2026 · 02:15 UTC7 reports

The short version

  • House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and presidential adviser Jared Kushner held a private meeting in New York City.
  • The discussion touched on potential common ground regarding housing, immigration, and the cost of living.
  • The meeting drew mixed reactions from Democrats and raised questions about potential shifts in congressional control ahead of the midterm elections.
  • It remains uncertain whether the private talks will yield any formal legislative collaboration between Democrats and the Trump administration.

Key facts

  • House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and presidential adviser Jared Kushner held a private meeting in New York City.[CBS News · Associated Press · NBC News]
  • The conversation included topics such as housing, immigration, and the cost of living.[CBS News · Associated Press · NBC News]
  • House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that he first learned about the meeting from news reports and minimized Kushner's day-to-day role in the administration.[CBS News · Associated Press]
  • Jeffries issued a statement criticizing Republican governance approaches without explicitly confirming the private discussion.[CBS News · Associated Press]
  • Jeffries and Kushner previously worked together on the First Step Act criminal justice reform legislation passed in 2018.[CBS News · NBC News]

What remains uncertain

  • The exact timing of when the meeting took place was not detailed by anonymous sources, though reports indicated it occurred in recent weeks.[NBC News]

Sources