#Kushner snags book deal with Harper Collins; no deal yet for Trump

Jared Kushner has become the latest Trump administration official to snag a book deal, signing with Harper Collins on Wednesday, even as his father-in-law and former president appears to be getting shunned by publishers.

The Broadside Books imprint of Harper Collins said it signed Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former trusted adviser to a book that’s still untitled but apparently well underway and scheduled to be published in early 2022.

The publisher said Kushner played an important role “in the administration’s most significant accomplishments” and that it will be a “thorough recounting of the administration—and the truth about what happened behind closed doors.”

Kushner was intimately involved in negotiations in the Middle East that resulted in the Abraham Accords that four Arab nations signed with Israel. He was also involved in Operation Warp Speed and criminal justice reform.

More importantly, perhaps, for a publisher, he and first daughter Ivanka Trump were also reportedly urging Trump as early as November 9 to concede the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Trump’s two eldest sons, Donnie Jr. and Eric, continued to support Trump’s assertion that the election, which Trump lost by 74 Electoral College votes and 7 million popular votes, was “stolen.”

It’s one reason, according to Politico, that none of the big five publishers have signed the former president to a deal, including Simon & Shuster, which signed Veep Mike Pence and former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway. Pence reportedly received a seven-figure advance for a two-book deal.

One rival publisher estimated that Kushner may have only received a six-figure deal, saying there was no other competition for it.

The wariness on the part of publishers like Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Hachette Books, and Harper Collins to sign the ex-President comes even as Trump’s strong base of supporters would undoubtedly turn it into a runaway bestseller.

“Their reluctance is driven by several factors, though the underlying fear is that whatever Trump would write wouldn’t be truthful,” wrote Daniel Lippman and Meredith McGraw in Politico.

Ordinarily former presidents provoke spirited book auctions. Barack and Michelle Obama signed a record setting $65 million book deal for their combined memoirs.

Michelle Obama’s “Becoming,” was one of the best-selling memoirs in history, racking up sales of over 10 million copies across all formats within months of its late release. Barack Obama’s memoir “A Promised Land” also dominated best-seller lists following its November 2020 release.

Bill Clinton’s book auction hit a snag when he first left office because of some ongoing scandals, but by August of that year, he had a deal for over $10 million, which at the time was a nonfiction record. Even George W. Bush, who was fairly unpopular by the time he left office amid a recession triggered by Wall Street, snagged a $7 million advance for his memoir “Decision Points.”

Regnery Press, which publishes conservative authors, said it would be interested in talking to Trump if and when he circulates a proposal. And Trump insisted to Politico that “two of the biggest and most prestigious publishing houses have made very substantial offers which I have rejected.”

He did not disclose the identity of the publishing houses that made the “substantial offers.”