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- Jared Kushner reportedly avoided Trump after the January 6 Capitol riot.
- "We'll just get in a fight if I go" to the White House, Kushner told a Republican lawmaker on January 7.
- That's according to a forthcoming book by ABC News' Jonathan Karl.
After the Capitol riot on January 6, Jared Kushner said he avoided going to the White House and seeing then-President Donald Trump, according to a forthcoming book by ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl.
"We'll just get in a fight if I go over there," Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who was then also working as his senior aide, told a Republican lawmaker the day after the riot, per the book.
The scene comes in Karl's book, "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show," which is set to publish on Tuesday. Insider obtained an early copy of the book.
Kushner had been flying back to the nation's capital from Saudi Arabia when the riot began. But when he landed at Joint Base Andrews, he went "straight home," per the book. Secret Service agents had warned that it'd be "dangerous" for him to go to the White House, Kushner later told people, according to the book.
Unlike his wife Ivanka Trump, Kushner did not release a public statement in response to the insurrection. The day after the riot, the couple invited some Trump administration officials, including economic advisor Larry Kudlow, for a dinner at their home in Washington, DC. Nobody spoke about the riot. Instead, the conversation focused on the creation of a new think tank, according to the book.
Kushner played a major role in Trump's White House, working on everything from the COVID-19 pandemic response to US policy in the Middle East. He became one of the most well-known and powerful figures in the Trump administration. The former president had once publicly called Kushner "my star."
Since Trump left office, however, Kushner has reportedly tried to shift away from politics. In July, Reuters reported that Kushner is finalizing the launch of Affinity Partners, an investment firm that will be headquartered in Miami, where he and Ivanka now live, not far from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.
Still, the couple have visited Trump less and less frequently and do not show up for big events at Mar-a-Lago, according to a CNN report in June. The former president's fixation on the 2020 election had reportedly driven them away. That followed up a CNN report in March, which stated that Kushner had barely been in touch with Trump.
In June, the New York Times reported that Kushner wanted a "simpler relationship" with his father-in-law and is focused on writing his memoir. The book, which is set to come out next year, will recount his time in the Trump administration.
A spokesperson for Kushner did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.