Jared Kushner is set to reveal an experience with thyroid cancer while serving as an advisor to former President Donald Trump in an upcoming memoir, according to the New York Times.
Kushner learned of his cancer diagnosis on a presidential trip to Texas in Oct. 2019.
“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,” Kushner recounted in the memoir.
“‘Your test results came back from Walter Reed,’ he said. ‘It looks like you have cancer.’”
“‘We need to schedule a surgery right away.’”
Kushner described keeping his cancer diagnosis mostly private, telling only his wife Ivanka Trump, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and two of his aides.
Kushner is the son-in-law of Donald Trump. The president learned of the diagnosis indirectly, later asking him about the surgery before the procedure.
“Breaking History: A White House Memoir” is set for publication on Aug. 23.
Thyroid cancer is a serious medical condition, although it’s considered treatable with proper medical care, according to the National Institutes for Health.
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Roughly 1.2 percent of people will be diagnosed with thyroid cancer in their lifetime.
Kushner said the condition required a procedure in which a substantial part of his thyroid was removed.
The cancer lead to concerns that Kushner could damage his voice.
“When I did think about it, I reminded myself that it was in the hands of God and the doctors, and that whatever happened was out of my control,” Kushner said of the surgery.
“At moments, I caught myself wondering whether I would need extensive treatment.”
As an advisor to the president, Kushner played a role in negotiating the U.S-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a North American trade deal that replaced NAFTA.
Kushner also played a hand in the negotiation of the Abraham Accords, a series of Middle East deals that brokered full recognition between Israel and two Arab nations.
