Donald Trump's three eldest children and son-in-law wield key influence on the GOP presumptive nominee, acting as strategists and drafting speeches, messaging and policy,
the Washington Post reports.
Citing unnamed Trump campaign sources, the newspaper reports Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric are in frequent contact with Republican National Committee officials — who have come to expect at least one showing up at campaign meetings with Trump.
According to the Post, RNC spokesman Sean Spicer reports that chairman Reince Priebus is speaking directly to Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and the three eldest children ahead of the party convention in Cleveland.
One unnamed source tells the Post the children have been so deeply involved in his campaign because "for better or worse, the Trump brand is intermingled with the campaign," and have helped him understand which of his messages are resonating — and which are bombing.
According to the Post, it was Ivanka, who is married to Kushner, who was key in Trump's support for Planned Parenthood's non-abortion work, even though many Republicans do not.
Lawyer Jay Goldberg, a former Trump adviser, said the candidate is "very loyal to his children" and lucky that "they are monumentally smart."
The Trump children are also are taking on more day-to-day responsibilities at the Trump Organization, the Post reports.
"Everything we've ever done, we've done as a family," the Post reports Eric Trump, 32, saying in an interview this year. "Every project we've ever built, we've built as a family. ‘The Apprentice' we did as a family. The golf courses and hotels we do as a family. . . . We vacation as a family."
According to the Post, the campaign's latest financial filings show Trump spent more than $1.1 million in May reimbursing his properties and family members for expenses — a notable sum for the tiny operation of 70 campaign staffers, which has just $1.3 million in cash on hand, the Post reports.
Their powerful sway was brought to light earlier this week with the
firing of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
"There does have to be a transition to the general" election and it was "time to move on," Don Jr., 38, told ABC's “Good Morning America" on Tuesday.
According to the Post, however, Lewandowski's abrupt departure was spurred in part by suspicions within the family that he was trying to sideline Kushner by spreading dirt to the media about him.
In 2005, Kushner's father, Charles, was convicted in federal court of making illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering, the Post notes — adding that Jared Kushner now sits in campaign meetings with the prosecutor in that case, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and current Trump adviser.
Kushner also frequently travels with Trump, including a recent trip to Washington to meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan's policy team, and helped connect Trump to former secretary of state
Henry Kissinger for foreign affairs advice and to News Corp. mogul
Rupert Murdoch to help repair relations with the Fox News Channel, the Post reports.
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