House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has recently met privately with Jared Kushner. NBC News says the meeting took place in Manhattan and that the two discussed possible areas of cooperation. The New York Times first reported the private meeting.
The Times reported that the meeting happened in recent weeks, citing five sources with knowledge of it. Two sources told the newspaper that Jeffries and Kushner discussed housing, immigration, and the high cost of living. The meeting space in New York was offered by a mutual friend of the two men, according to the Times, which cited two people with knowledge of the meeting and a third who was briefed on it.
The source who spoke to NBC News was granted anonymity and was not authorized to discuss the private meeting. That source did not share details about when the meeting took place or what was discussed. Jeffries has been one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent critics, while Kushner is Trump’s son-in-law and has taken on high-profile foreign policy roles as a special envoy.
The reported talks come as Democrats prepare for midterms and outline oversight plans
Jeffries said in a statement on Sunday that Republicans have adopted a “my-way-or-the-highway approach” that Democrats have made clear “will not work and will be met with forceful opposition.”
He added, “In every conversation that we have with the Trump administration, we will continue to make it explicitly clear that the affordability crisis is not a hoax and nothing short of transformational policy change is acceptable. We are fighting for an affordable America. The question is whether Republicans will join us.”
The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on the meeting. Despite their different policy views, Jeffries and Kushner previously worked together to support a criminal justice reform bill during Trump’s first term. Kushner championed the measure, which Jeffries signed onto as a co-sponsor. The legislation, known as the First Step Act, was signed into law in 2018.
The recent meeting comes with just months remaining before the midterm elections that will decide control of Congress for the rest of Trump’s term. Both parties are entering the final stretch of the campaign season. Democrats have expressed hope of flipping the House and the Senate. If they regain even one chamber, it could limit future legislative efforts from the administration.
If Democrats take back the House majority in November, Jeffries is viewed as the favorite to become the next speaker. He has predicted victory in the midterms.
He and his committee leaders have said they would conduct aggressive oversight of the Trump administration on issues including ICE tactics, Trump’s Qatari-donated jet, his family business dealings, and the White House ballroom. Jeffries has also addressed conditions for any Trump impeachment focus tied to those election results.
Kushner remains a close confidant of Trump. He served as a senior adviser in the White House during Trump’s first term. He currently serves as special envoy for peace missions, focused largely on the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war, working alongside another special envoy, Steve Witkoff. The two sides have traded sharp criticism in the past, including when Trump called for Jeffries impeachment over a Supreme Court remark.
Published: Aug 24, 2026 12:00 pm