first among equals on the staff, that every big decision was going to come through him. he was asserting i think his privacy as the main advisor to the president. he was going to be the main person at his side. >> the idea at a 36 real estate developer who had never worked ipgovernment would hold such an important role was sharply criticized. and then the president handed him a full plate of assignments, stunning washington. >> he was assigned to find a piece of the middle east, to handle relations with china, with mexico. he put on a flack vest over his blue blazer and went to iraq. >> he setup the office of american innovation. he was going to solve the veterans affair crisis, do an infrastructure plan. it became a joke that there was no problem in america that jared kushner was not going to fix. >> many in the white house weren't laughing. in the early months of the administration some senior aides struggled with kushner, and they