Why Josh Kushner's Political Record Is Now Part of the Lakers Story
Josh Kushner, the younger brother of White House adviser Jared Kushner, is a Democrat whose public political record differs sharply from that of his brother and father-in-law Donald Trump. That contrast has become newly relevant after Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger were announced Wednesday as the buyers of a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers purchase came weeks after a planned investment by Kushner's firm, Thrive Capital, in a FIFA subsidiary fell through. The timing has fueled speculation that Kushner's family connection to Trump may have helped his sports-financing ventures. The White House has said Trump had no involvement in the Lakers deal, and Trump has denied any role in the FIFA plan.
Publicly reported political activity underlines the distance between Kushner and Trump. Kushner has said he did not vote for Trump in 2016 and did not attend Trump's first inauguration, but he was seen at that year's Women's March in Washington, D.C. He donated $50,000 to March for Our Lives in 2018, according to Axios, and $250,000 to the Growth Democrats political action committee in 2024, according to New York magazine. In a 2017 Forbes article, Kushner said "liberal values have guided my life."
His wife, model Karlie Kloss, has also stressed the separation. She told Bloomberg last month that she has never met Trump and that she and her husband are Democrats.
The Political and Reputational Lines Around the Lakers and FIFA Deals
Why the Lakers and FIFA Timing Still Raises Conflict-of-Interest Questions
The fact that Kushner is a Democrat does not by itself resolve the speculation about whether his family connection to Trump advantaged either deal. What keeps the question alive is the sequence: a failed Thrive Capital investment in a FIFA entity, followed weeks later by a high-profile Lakers acquisition. Even with White House and Trump denials, sports ownership is a reputation-sensitive business, and NBA owners face league scrutiny. The surfacing of Kushner's political donations and Kloss's comments appears aimed at countering the appearance of favoritism, though that is an interpretation rather than a documented motive.
Karlie Kloss's Public Distancing and Its Limits
Kloss's Bloomberg remarks — that she has never met Trump and that she and Kushner are Democrats — continue a pattern of public distance from Trump's politics. Her statement is personally and politically significant because it shifts attention from the family tie to the couple's own record. But it addresses personal political identity, not the separate question of whether business opportunities were influenced. The Lakers deal will still be evaluated on its ownership terms, league approval and the source of financing, which the article does not resolve.
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