Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while he was serving as the senior advisor at the White House. The disclosure is part of a book, a memoir, to be published next month, according to The New York Times (NYT). The diagnosis was reported in 2019, when Mr Kushner visited Texas for the opening of a Louis Vuitton factory, the outlet further reported. Since leaving the White House, the husband of Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka has founded a private equity firm named Affinity Partners.
The NYT carried an excerpt from the book titled "Breaking History: A White House Memoir", which quoted Mr Kushner as saying, "On the morning that I traveled to Texas to attend the opening of a Louis Vuitton factory, White House physician Sean Conley pulled me into the medical cabin on Air Force One."
"'Your test results came back from Walter Reed,' he said. 'It looks like you have cancer. We need to schedule a surgery right away'," the 41-year-old further said in the book, scheduled to be released on August 23.
The cancer was discovered in October 2019, when he was involved in discussions over a trade deal with China, the outlet further said.
He kept this diagnosis secret from everyone, except his wife, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and two other aides.
An article in The Guardian said that Mr Kushner had the surgery right before Thanksgiving that year.
He was also surprised to know that Mr Trump knew about his cancer diagnosis. The Guardian said that a day before the surgery, he called Mr Kushner to the Oval Office and asked if he is nervous.
Mr Kushner asked how Trump knew, to which he replied: "I'm the president. I know everything. I understand that you want to keep these things quiet. I like to keep things like this to myself as well. You'll be just fine. Don't worry about anything with work. We have everything covered here."
Mr Kushner and Ivanka have been living in Miami now where he looks after his investment firm.
