Jared Kushner’s new book claims Bannon threatened to “break him in half”

Jared Kushner‘s upcoming book, “Breaking History: A White House Memoir,” sheds light on some of the more violent aspects of The White House witnessed by Kushner first-hand during Trump’s presidency.

According to Kushner, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was “a toxic presence who accused him of undermining the President’s agenda and threatened to break him in half if Kushner turned on him,” according to CNN. 

The memoir describes an event that took place in the West Wing where senior economic adviser, Gary Cohn, informed Kushner that Bannon was “leaking negative information about him,” and when Kushner approached Bannon to discuss the matter things got tense.

“Steve, you gotta stop leaking on Gary,” Kushner describes telling Bannon. “We’re trying to build a team here.” Bannon’s response, as described in the memoir and reported on by CNN was to say “Cohn’s the one leaking on me. … Jared, right now, you’re the one undermining the President’s agenda . . . “And if you go against me, I will break you in half. Don’t f— with me.”

Kushner’s book goes on to describe that he felt “woefully unprepared” to handle Bannon “declaring war” on him, and he describes Bannon as being “a black belt in the dark arts of media manipulation.”

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

In another section of his memoir, Kushner describes an incident where he alleges that his wife, Ivanka Trump, was physically pushed by Trump’s second chief of staff, John Kelly in what he recalls being a “fit of rage following a heated Oval Office meeting,” according to The Washington Post. 

“One day he had just marched out of a contentious meeting in the Oval Office,” writes Kushner. “Ivanka was walking down the main hallway of the West Wing when she passed him. Unaware of his heated state of mind, she said, ‘Hello, chief.’. . .”Kelly shoved her out of the way and stormed by. She wasn’t hurt, and didn’t make a big deal about the altercation, but in his rage Kelly had shown his true character.”

In an email responding to Kushner’s allegation, Kelly said “It is inconceivable that I would EVER shove a woman. Inconceivable. Never happen. Would never intentionally do something like that.”