贾里德?库什纳：不仅是美国“第一女婿”

2017-06-01ByStevenBertoni

新东方英语 2017年6期

By+Steven+Bertoni

現年36岁的贾里德·库什纳是名副其实的“高富帅”：身高一米九、有着英俊面庞的他是哈佛毕业的高材生，是纽约成功的地产商人兼媒体老板，有令人羡慕的事业和家庭，更是美国现任总统唐纳德·特朗普的乘龙快婿、得力干将。今年4月，库什纳入选美国《时代周刊》年度“全球100位最具影响力人物榜”，再一次吸引了公众的眼球。这位“第一女婿”究竟是如何获得特朗普的信任并将其推上总统宝座的？且随本文一起走近贾里德·库什纳，了解当年美国大选背后的故事。

Its been one week since Donald Trump pulled off the biggest upset in modern political history， and his headquarters at Trump Tower in New York City is a 58-story， onyx1）-glassed lightning rod. Barricades， TV trucks and protesters frame a fortified Fifth Avenue. Armies of journalists and selfie-seeking tourists stalk Trump Towers pink marble lobby， hoping to snap the next political power player who steps into view. Twenty-six floors up， the president-elect is choosing his Cabinet.

Winners will emerge shortly. The most compelling figure， however， wasnt in Trump Tower. Jared Kushner was three blocks south， high up in his own skyscraper， where he oversees his familys Kushner Companies real estate empire. Trumps son-in-law， dressed in an impeccably2） tailored gray suit， sitting on a brown leather couch in his impeccably neat office， displays the impeccably polite manners that won the 35-year-old a dizzying number of influential friends even before he had gained the ear， and trust， of the new leader of the free world. A year ago he had zero experience in politics and about as much interest in it. Suddenly he sits at its global center.

Running the Trump Campaign

Kushner almost never speaks publicly， but interviews with him and a dozen people around him and the Trump camp lead to an inescapable fact： The quiet， enigmatic young mogul delivered the presidency to the most fame-hungry， bombastic candidate in American history.

“Jared Kushner is the biggest surprise of the 2016 election，” says Eric Schmidt， the former CEO of Google. “Best I can tell， he actually ran the campaign and did it with essentially no resources.”

No resources at the beginning， perhaps. Underfunded3） throughout， for sure. But by running the Trump campaign—notably， its secret data operation—like a Silicon Valley startup， Kushner eventually tipped the states that swung the election4）. And he did so in a manner that will change the way future elections will be won and lost. President Obama had unprecedented success in targeting， organizing and motivating voters. But a lot has changed in eight years. Specifically social media. Clinton did borrow from Obamas playbook5） but also leaned on traditional media. The Trump campaign， meanwhile， delved into message tailoring， sentiment manipulation and machine learning. The traditional campaign is dead， another victim of the unfiltered democracy of the Web—and Kushner， more than anyone not named Donald Trump， killed it.

That achievement， coupled with the personal trust Trump has in him， uniquely positions Kushner to be a power broker6） of the highest order for at least four years. “Every president Ive ever known has one or two people he intuitively trusts，” says former secretary of state Henry Kissinger， “I think Jared might be that person.”

Jared Kushners ascent from Ivanka Trumps little-known husband to Donald Trumps campaign savior happened gradually. In the early days of the scrappy7） campaign， it was all hands on deck8）， with Kushner helping research policy positions on tax and trade. But as the campaign gained steam9）， other players began using him as a trusted conduit10） to an erratic11） candidate. “I helped facilitate a lot of relationships that wouldnt have happened otherwise，” Kushner says， adding that people felt safe speaking with him， without risk of leaks.

Kushners role expanded as the Trump ticket gained traction—so did his enthusiasm. Kushner went all-in with Trump last November after seeing his father-in-law pack12） a raucous13） arena in Springfield， Illinois， on a Monday night. “People really saw hope in his message，” he says. “They wanted the things that wouldnt have been obvious to a lot of people I would meet in the New York media world or the Upper East Side14）.” And so this Harvard-educated child of privilege put on a bright-red Make American Great Again hat and rolled up his sleeves.

Just as Trumps unorthodox style allowed him to win the Republican nomination， Kushners lack of political experience became an advantage. Unschooled in traditional campaigning， he was able to look at the business of politics the way so many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have sized up other bloated industries.

“Jared understood the online world in a way the traditional media folks didnt. He managed to assemble a presidential campaign on a shoestring15） using new technology and won. Thats a big deal，” says Schmidt， the Google billionaire. “Remember all those articles about how they had no money， no people， organizational structure？ Well， they won， and Jared ran it.”

His Family

Controlled， understated and calm， Jared Kushner couldnt be more different from his father-in-law in personality and style. Take Twitter. While Trumps impulsive tweeting to his 15.5 million followers reportedly forced his staff to withhold his phone during parts of the campaign， Kushner has never posted a single tweet.

And whereas Trumps office is wall-to-wall16） Donald， a memorabilia17）-stuffed shrine to ego， the headquarters for the Kushner Companies is sparse and sober. A leather-bound copy of Jewish teachings， the Pirkei Avot18）， sits on a wooden pedestal19） in the reception room， and identical silver mezuzahs20） adorn the side of each office door. The only decoration in his large， terraced boardroom is an oil painting of his grandparents， Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the U.S. after World War II. But enter Kushners corner office and you see—under a painting with the words “Dont Panic” over a canvas of New York Observer pages—two critical commonalities that unite the pair： columns of real estate deal trophies and framed photos of Ivanka. If you are looking for a consistent ideology from either Kushner or Trump， it can be summarized in a word： family.

Jared and Ivanka met at a business lunch and started dating in 2007. During the courtship Kushner had met Donald only a few times in passing when， sensing the relationship was getting serious， he asked Trump for a meeting. Over lunch at the Trump Grill， they discussed the couples future. “I said， ‘Ivanka and I are getting serious， and were starting to go down that path，” Kushner says and laughs.

“He said， ‘Youd better be serious on this.”

“Jared and my father initially bonded over a combination of me and real estate，” Ivanka Trump says in her Trump Tower offices. “Theres a lot of parallels between Jared as a developer and my father in the early years of his development career.”

Like Trump， Kushner grew up outside Manhattan： New Jersey in Kushners case， versus Trumps Queens. Also like Trump， Kushner is the son of a man who created a real estate empire in his local market—Charles Kushner eventually controlled 25，000 apartments across the Northeast—and steeped his children in the family business. “My father never really believed in summer camp， so wed come with him to the office，” Kushner says. “Wed go look at jobs， work on construction sites. It taught us real work.” Raised with three siblings in an observant Jewish home in Livingston， New Jersey， Kushner went to a private Jewish high school and then to Harvard. Next came New York University， for a joint J.D. and M.B.A.

During grad school Kushner interned for Manhattans longtime district attorney， Robert Morgenthau， before a family scandal upended his life. In 2004 Charles Kushner pleaded21） guilty to tax evasion， illegal campaign contributions and witness tampering.

Just 24， Jared， as the elder son， suddenly found himself charged with keeping the family together. He saw his mother most days and flew to Alabama to visit his father in prison on most weekends. He also developed a deeper bond with his brother， Josh， who had just started Harvard when the scandal broke. Says Josh， who considers Jared his best friend： “He is the person that I turn to for guidance and support no matter the circumstance.”

“The whole thing taught me not to worry about the things you cant control，” Kushner says. “You can control how you react and can try to make things happen as you want them to. I focus on doing my best to ensure the outcomes. And when it doesnt go my way I have to work harder the next time.”

His Core Conviction

Part of the reason Jared Kushner has engendered such public interest， besides the power he suddenly wields and the curiosity generated by his near-invisible media presence， is the paradoxes that he represents.

He brought the Silicon Valley ethos， which values openness and inclusiveness， to a campaign that promised closed borders， trade protection and religious exclusion. A grandson of Holocaust survivors who serves a man who has advocated a ban on war refugees. A fact-driven lawyer whose chosen candidate called global warming a hoax， linked vaccines to autism and challenged President Obamas citizenship. A media mogul in a campaign stoked22） by fake news.

Kushners answers to these conflicts come down to one core conviction—his unflagging23） faith in Donald Trump. A faith that he defends with the “data” hes accumulated about the man over a decade-plus relationship.

“If I know somebody and everyone else says that this persons a terrible person，” he says， “Im not going to start thinking that this persons a terrible person or disassociating myself， when my empirical24） data and experience is a lot more informed than many of the people casting these judgments. What would that say about me if I changed my view based on what other people think， as opposed to the facts that I actually know for myself？”

And that seems to reflect how Kushner feels about friends upset by his role in electing someone who offends their values， to the point where， before the election， several wrote to him in fits of pique25）. “I call it an exfoliation26）. Anyone who was willing to change a friendship or not do business because of who somebody supports in politics is not somebody who has a lot of character.” “People are very fickle27），” he adds. “You have to find what you believe in， challenge your truths. And if you believe in something， even if its unpopular， you have to push with it.”

Many of those fickle friends are likely to return now that Kushner， after masterminding Trumps stunning victory， has the ear of the future president. What he will do with that power is anyones guess.

“I assume hell be in the White House throughout the entire presidency，” says News Corp. billionaire Rupert Murdoch. “For the next four or eight years hell be a strong voice， maybe even the strongest after the vice president.”

距離唐纳德·特朗普实现现代政治历史上最大的反转已经一周之久了（编注：英文原文发表于2016年11月22日）。其总部特朗普大厦位于纽约市，是一座高58层、外墙由缟玛瑙玻璃装饰的建筑，就像一根避雷针。路障、电视采访车以及抗议者纷纷聚集在戒备森严的第五大道外围。各路的新闻工作者和沉迷于自拍的游客出没在特朗普大厦粉红色的大理石大厅，只等这位新任政治权力玩家一露面，就拍下其身影。而在楼上的26层，这位侯任总统正在决定他的内阁人选。

入选名单不久便会公布。然而，最引人注目的人物并不在特朗普大厦内。贾里德·库什纳在此处以南三个街区之外，高坐于自己的摩天大楼中，从那里他可以俯视自家库什纳集团的房地产帝国。特朗普的这位女婿穿着无可挑剔的定制灰色西装，坐在自己整洁得无可挑剔的办公室里的棕色皮沙发上，举手投足温文尔雅，无可挑剔。即使在他还未获得这个自由世界新领导人的赏识和信任之前，这个35岁的年轻人凭借其优雅风度结交了大量举足轻重的朋友。一年前，他还从未涉足政治领域，对其也毫无兴趣。一夜之间，他便置身于全球政治的中心位置。

掌舵特朗普竞选

库什纳几乎未曾公开发表过演说，但对他的采访以及对他身边及特朗普阵营十几个人的采访无不表明这样一个事实：这位内敛而神秘的年轻巨亨为美国历史上最追求名望、夸夸其谈的候选人赢得了总统之位。

谷歌前CEO埃里克·施密特表示：“贾里德·库什纳是2016年大选中最大的惊喜。就我知道的情况看，他实际负责此次竞选，并且基本上没什么资源。”

一开始可能真的没什么资源。整个竞选过程中资金肯定也不充足。但以运作硅谷新公司的方式来运作特朗普的竞选，尤其是其秘密的数据运作，库什纳最终撬动了那些摇摆州。而他的做法将改变未来决定总统选举胜负的方式。奥巴马总统曾在对其选民的确定、组织和动员方面取得过空前的成功。但八年来许多事情都发生了变化，尤其是社交媒体。希拉里阵营确实借鉴了奥巴马的战略经验，但还是依赖于传统媒体。与此同时，特朗普阵营则细致研究信息定制、情感操控和机器学习。传统的竞选已经死了，成为泥沙俱下的网络民主的又一个牺牲品——对于其死亡，库什纳比唐纳德·特朗普之外的其他任何人都发挥了更大的作用。

这样的成就，加上特朗普个人对其的信任，使得库什纳在接下来至少四年内，成为唯一的最高级别的权力经纪人。美国前国务卿亨利·基辛格说：“据我所知，每位总统都有一两位本能上非常信任的人。我觉得贾里德很可能就是这样的人。”

贾里德·库什纳从伊万卡·特朗普默默无闻的丈夫擢升为唐纳德·特朗普竞选的救星，这经历了一个循序渐进的过程。刚开始的时候竞选杂乱无章，所有人都上阵，库什纳协助研究在税收和贸易问题上应采取什么样的政策立场。但是随着竞选声势越来越大，其他相关人员开始将他当作可信任的渠道，来和那位不按常理出牌的候选人进行沟通。库什纳说：“我协助建立了许多关系，这些关系原本不可能建立。”他还表示，人们和他交谈很放心，不用担心谈话会被泄露。

随着特朗普选票的增多，库什纳所起的作用也愈发重要，他的热情也随之高涨。2015年11月一个星期一的夜晚，他看到岳父在伊利诺伊州斯普林菲尔德市一个竞选集会场所挥斥方遒，全场挤满的人为之呐喊，之后便全身心投入到竞选当中。他说：“人们在他的演讲中真正看到了希望。他们想要的那些东西，都是我在纽约的媒体圈子和上东区遇到的很多人察觉不到的。”于是，这位哈佛出身的权贵公子戴上印有“让美国再次伟大”的大红色帽子，撸起袖子准备大干一场。

特朗普离经叛道的风格为他赢得了共和党的提名，同样，库什纳在政治领域的一片空白也成了一个优势。他没有学习过传统的竞选技巧，反倒能以许多硅谷的企业家看待过剩产业的眼光来看待政治事务。

谷歌億万富翁施密特说：“贾里德对网络世界的理解与传统媒体人士完全不同。他利用新技术，没花多少钱就组织起了一场总统竞选，并赢取了胜利。这是件了不起的事。还记得很多报道都说过他们如何缺钱，如何缺人，如何缺乏组织架构吗？可是，他们赢了，掌舵人就是贾里德。”

他的家庭

贾里德·库什纳自律、低调、冷静，在性格和风格上与他的岳父存在天壤之别。以推特为例，特朗普会凭一时冲动向他的1550万关注者推送消息，据说这迫使他的团队在竞选的部分阶段没收了他的手机，而库什纳则从未发过一条推文。

而且，特朗普的办公室随处可见特朗普的痕迹，到处都是特朗普的纪念品，如同一所自我崇拜的神堂，而库什纳集团的总部则空旷而朴素。一本皮面装订本的犹太教义《父辈的伦理》放在接待室的木质底座上，每间办公室的门框上都装饰着一模一样的银质门柱圣卷。在他带有露天平台的大会议室里，唯一的装饰物是一幅画有他祖父母的油画。他的祖父母是犹太人大屠杀的幸存者，二战后移民来到美国。但进入库什纳在转角处的办公室后，你会看到一幅印有《纽约观察家》报版面的油画，画上印有“Dont Panic”（意为“处变不惊”）的字样。在画的下方，你会发现可将库什纳和特朗普联系在一起的两个重要的共性：一排排房地产交易的奖杯和镶有相框的伊万卡的照片。如果你想寻找库什纳和特朗普在思想上有什么共性，有一个词可以概括：家庭。

贾里德和伊万卡是在一个商业午餐会上相遇的，两人2007年开始约会。恋爱期间，库什纳仅仅顺便见了唐纳德几面。当库什纳觉得两人的关系渐渐确定下来后，他提出要正式拜会特朗普。在特朗普烧烤餐厅，他们讨论了这对情侣的未来。库什纳笑着说：“我说，‘伊万卡和我是认真的，而且我们准备相处下去。”

“唐纳德说，‘这件事上，你最好不要开玩笑。”

“贾里德和我父亲一开始是因为我和房地产联系在了一起，贾里德作为一个房地产开发商，与青年时期开辟事业的父亲有很多相似之处。”伊万卡·特朗普在特朗普大厦里自己的办公室中这样说道。

跟特朗普一样，库什纳成长于曼哈顿之外的地方：库什纳在新泽西州长大，特朗普则在皇后区。另一个相似之处在于，库什纳跟特朗普一样，都是当地房产大鳄之子——查尔斯·库什纳最终握有东北地区25000处公寓，并让自己的孩子们浸淫在家族产业之中。库什纳说：“我父亲从没有真正相信过夏令营，所以我们跟着他去办公室，我们得看别人是怎么工作的，要在建筑工地上打工。这教会我们如何真正工作。”库什纳和三个兄弟姐妹一同在新泽西州利文斯顿市一个遵守教义的犹太家庭中长大，后来进入一所私人犹太高中，随后在哈佛大学读书。毕业之后他前往纽约大学，攻读法学博士和MBA双学位。

读研期间，库什纳在曼哈顿一位老牌地方检察官罗伯特·摩根索的手下做实习生。后来，他的人生因家族丑闻而彻底改变。2004年，查尔斯·库什纳承认了逃税、非法提供竞选资金和干扰证人的罪状。

当时贾里德才24岁，作为长子，他一夜之间发现自己身负维系家庭的责任。他大部分时间都会去探望母亲，大多数周末会飞到亚拉巴马州去探望正在坐牢的父亲。丑闻爆发之初，他弟弟乔希才刚刚进入哈佛，这件事使得两兄弟的手足之情更加深厚。乔希将哥哥视为密友，他说：“无论出现什么情况，我都会向哥哥寻求帮助和支持。”

库什纳说：“这一切教会我不要去担心自己无法掌控的事情。你可以掌控的是如何应对以及尝试让事情按照你想要的方式去發展。我一门心思竭尽全力，以确保能有好的结果。当结果并不如我所愿时，我只能下次更加努力。”

他的核心信仰

贾里德·库什纳引起公众如此的关注，除了他突然拥有的权力以及因为他几乎不在媒体露面所引发的好奇心之外，部分也是因为他所展现出的矛盾性。

他将硅谷注重开放和包容性的气质带入一场承诺关闭边境、贸易保护和宗教排斥的竞选。他是犹太人大屠杀幸存者的后裔，却服务于一个提倡限制战争难民的人。他是一位注重事实的律师，却选择了一位称全球变暖为骗局、将疫苗接种与自闭症联系起来以及质疑奥巴马总统公民权的竞选人。他是一位传媒大亨，却掌舵一场由虚假新闻催生的竞选。

对于所有这些矛盾，库什纳的答案都在于一个核心信仰——对于唐纳德·特朗普，他深信不疑。他用与特朗普十多年的关系积累下来的“数据”来维护自己的这份信任。

他表示：“如果我认识某个人，但其他人都说这个人很差劲，当我自己所掌握的实际数据和经验比其他很多做出这些判断的人更丰富时，我不会就此认为那个人很差劲，也不会因此与之保持距离。如果我置自己掌握的事实于不顾，随大流改变自己的看法，那外界又会怎么看我呢？”

这似乎反映了库什纳对于有些朋友的态度。这些朋友因为库什纳选择了违背他们价值观的参选人而苦恼万分，有几个人甚至在选举开始之前还恼怒地给库什纳写过信。“我把这看作是一个剥离的过程。仅仅因为我在政治上支持某个人，就想要终止一段友谊或停止商业往来的人，定力都不够。”他还说：“人们总是非常善变。你必须找到自己的信仰，挑战你所认为的真理。如果你坚信某些东西，即使那并非主流，你也要坚持下去。”

库什纳运筹帷幄帮特朗普意外赢得大选后，获得了这位未来总统的赏识，因而许多善变的朋友可能都会回来。而他将如何运用这份权力，这谁都拿不准。

新闻集团的亿万富翁鲁伯特·默多克表示：“我确信，在特朗普在任期间，库什纳会一直在白宫。在未来的四年或八年里，他会发出强有力的声音，甚至仅次于副总统。”

特朗普大厦

1. onyx [??n?ks] n. [矿]缟玛瑙

2. impeccably [?m?pek?b（?）li] adv. 无可挑剔地

3. underfunded [??nd?（r）?f?nd?d] adj. 资金不足的

4. 指“摇摆州”（swing state），美国大选中的特有说法，即竞选双方势均力敌、均无明显优势的州。这些州在大选中频频摇摆，倒向不同的政党，其选票是竞选双方争夺的重点。摇摆州的动向往往直接影响大选的结果。

5. playbook [?ple?b?k] n. [橄]战略和比赛方法手册

6. power broker：（能影响有权势人物以操纵权力的）权力经纪人

7. scrappy [?skr?pi] adj. 零碎的;支离破碎的

8. all hands on deck：原意为“全体船员各就各位”，即当船遇险或发生紧急情况时，要求所有船员上甲板共同面对。现用于号召所有人同心合力应对需要及时完成的事情。

9. gain steam：开始发展壮大