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It had personally pained Trump not to be able to give it…

“It had personally pained Trump not to be able to give it to him. But if the Republican establishment had not wanted Trump, they had not wanted Christie almost as much. So Christie got the job of leading the transition and the implicit promise of a central job—attorney general or chief of staff…” quote by Michael Wolff
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““It had personally pained Trump not to be able to give it to him. But if the Republican establishment had not wanted Trump, they had not wanted Christie almost as much. So Christie got the job of leading the transition and the implicit promise of a central job—attorney general or chief of staff. But when he was the federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Christie had sent Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, to jail in 2005. Charlie Kushner, pursued by the feds for an income tax cheat, set up a scheme with a prostitute to blackmail his brother-in-law, who was planning to testify against him. Various accounts, mostly offered by Christie himself, make Jared the vengeful hatchet man in Christie’s aborted Trump administration career. It was a kind of perfect sweet-revenge story: the son of the wronged man (or, in this case—there’s little dispute—the guilty-as-charged man) uses his power over the man who wronged his family. But other accounts offer a subtler and in a way darker picture. Jared Kushner, like sons-in-law everywhere, tiptoes around his father-in-law, carefully displacing as little air as possible: the massive and domineering older man, the reedy and pliant younger one. In the revised death-of-Chris-Christie story, it is not the deferential Jared who strikes back, but—in some sense even more satisfying for the revenge fantasy—Charlie Kushner himself who harshly demands his due. It was his daughter-in-law who held the real influence in the Trump circle, who delivered the blow. Ivanka told her father that Christie’s appointment as chief of staff or to any other high position would be extremely difficult for her and her family, and it would be best that Christie be removed from the Trump orbit altogether.””

Michael Wolff

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The passage describes how personal vendettas and family dynamics shaped political appointments, suggesting that power was used to settle old scores rather than merit.

In simple terms: Personal grudges influenced political jobs.

Key Takeaway

Beware of personal motives in leadership decisions.

Themes

politics family revenge power appointment

Mood

cautious critical analytical

Type

historical political analytical

When to use this quote

  • campaign staffing
  • executive appointments
  • family influence
  • political negotiations
  • white house staffing

Key Concepts

political patronage personal vendetta influence dynamics appointment politics family loyalty

Questions to Reflect On

  • How do personal relationships affect political decisions?
  • What safeguards can prevent nepotism?
A Different Perspective

The narrative may overemphasize drama and personal bias, lacking full context.

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