![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/40f4e3f4c8d430799ed99f34642a7d8bd0-jeffries.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
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\n Jeffries is sending the wrong signal with premature negotiations.
\n Photo: Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
It was the sort of scenario that democratic socialists in New York City might have had in mind when they chanted \u201cYou\u2019re next!\u201d<\/a> to TV images of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a> after routing several Establishment Democrats in the June 25 primaries. According to reporting<\/a> from Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni of the New York Times, Jeffries met secretly with President Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner to begin planning areas of bipartisan cooperation if Democrats gain control of the House in November:<\/p>\n The rare engagement was held in a private space in New York City, offered up by a mutual friend of the two men, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting and a third who was briefed on it. They and others were granted anonymity to discuss a meeting about which they were not authorized to speak publicly. \u2026<\/p>\n During the recent meeting, the pair discussed housing, immigration and the high cost of living as potential areas of common ground. Mr. Kushner suggested that Mr. Jeffries should meet with the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, two people with knowledge of the meeting said.<\/p>\n Jeffries wouldn\u2019t admit (or deny) he met with Kushner but did offer this limp assessment of the potential for postelection cooperation with the administration, per the Times:<\/p>\n In a statement, Mr. Jeffries did not acknowledge the meeting, but suggested that the only way Democrats would cut deals with the administration would be if Republicans were willing to come their way on cost-of-living issues, his party\u2019s top priority.<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout this Congress, Republicans have adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach to governing that has failed the American people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The reaction from progressive Democrats like Zeteo CEO Mehdi Hasan was predictably sharp:<\/p>\n The only meeting Hakeem Jeffries should be having with Jared Kushner is to tell him he\u2019ll be subpoenaed by the House for a corruption investigation on day one of Democratic control of the House. <\/p>\n This is just pathetic stuff from the House Dem leader. https:\/\/t.co\/hy6lq7vYMk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Let\u2019s not be na\u00efve. If Jeffries does become Speaker-designate of the U.S. House in November, he cannot just cut off all communications with the White House or merely call Trump and his agents names or threaten them. There will be areas of necessary cooperation, whether it\u2019s over sensitive national-security matters or keeping the federal government operating, or even over a possible agenda for a postelection lame-duck session. But why Kushner, and why now? As Brian Beutler acerbically suggested<\/a>, it sent a very bad message to the Democrats who are laboring to put Jeffries in a position to wheel and deal, or at least to issue threats and hold hearings:<\/p>\n Kushner is not a government official; he is Trump\u2019s son-in-law\u2014a private citizen with vast, global financial conflicts of interest. He has nevertheless insinuated himself into sensitive governing roles, where he shapes policy to financially benefit the Trump family and its allies.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s (and, thus, Kushner\u2019s) m.o. in just about every quasi-constructive negotiation with counterparties has included the solicitation of a bribe or tribute. \u2026<\/p>\n Kushner should be a top oversight subject and witness; and Democrats should be prepared to block Trump administration policy objectives, both on a substantive basis and as a tool to ensure compliance with oversight demands.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the nature of politics to keep your distance when the cards are dealt and bets are made, and to talk frankly about consequences and next steps after the deal goes down. What, specifically, does Jeffries need to convey or secure from Kushner at this preliminary moment? Sure, you can say the Speaker-to-be needed to keep channels of discussion open, but once he is actual Speaker, he\u2019ll be in a position to demand an exchange of views and plans on a roughly equal basis. And this isn\u2019t just a matter of leverage or appearances: Trump needs to know the dynamics have fundamentally changed forever and won\u2019t just be a replication of his dealings with Democrats after losing control of the House in 2018. He has done far too much damage to the country and to executive-legislative relations since then. Here\u2019s how Beutler puts it:<\/p>\n [A]nything Trump wants or needs can\u2019t be given over in an environment where he\u2019s obstructing oversight, violating budget agreements, stealing from citizens in blue states, and monetizing the presidency. If circumstances call for action on an emergency basis, Democrats can\u2019t revive their approach to the COVID rescue packages they passed in 2020<\/a>, when they bailed Trump out of his own failures, while securing no reciprocity, and no thanks from the public.<\/p>\n He needs to get right with the law. He needs to submit to oversight. He\u2019ll only do those things under duress.<\/p>\n So what Hakeem Jeffries needs to be signaling to the likes of Jared Kushner right now is a very hard line \u2014 not to convey the tough-guy pugilism so many Democrats value to irrational degree these days, but as an honest statement of postelection intentions. Jeffries dare not position himself as an intermediary between the corrupt gang running the country and angry Democratic congressional rank-and-file members and an activist base that would love to see Team Trump in leg-irons. He should wait until November and then assess the configuration of power and the odds of getting things done before the deck is again reshuffled in 2028. Chitchatting genially right now will simply convince Jeffries critics that he\u2019s eager to sell them down the river for a mess of bipartisan pottage.<\/p>\n