Jared Kushner found a White House economic advisor by browsing Amazon, Vanity Fair reported Saturday.
Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, was asked by Trump to do research on China, and turned to Amazon, the report said.
There, he found a book co-written by Peter Navarro and was struck by its title, “Death by China.”
{mosads}Kushner then cold-called Navarro and invited him to be an adviser to the Trump campaign, according to the report. Navarro now directs the White House National Trade Council and serves as the Assistant to the President.
When the Trump campaign brought on Navarro, he was the only economic adviser on the team and likely reinforced Trump’s convictions about China’s trade policies.
In recent weeks, however, Trump signaled that he may take a softer approach toward China, backtracking on his campaign pledge to label the country as a currency manipulator.
The White House instead wants China to become a geopolitical partner in neutralizing the threat posed by the North Korean nuclear weapons program.