John Bolton says Jared Kushner is the most powerful Trump aide

• President Donald Trump's son-in-law has been his most important White House adviser over the years, former national security adviser John Bolton told ABC News.
• Trump regularly praises Kushner in public. The president recently called his son-in-law "my star" during a White House roundtable with law enforcement.
• Bolton also told ABC that the president is a "danger for the republic" and that he won't vote for him in November.
• The White House has attempted to prevent the publication of Bolton's damning new book, "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir."

President Donald Trump's son-in-law has been his most important White House adviser over the years, former national security adviser John Bolton said in an interview with ABC News that aired Sunday.

When asked who had the most power in the White House besides the president, Bolton named Ivanka Trump's 39-year-old husband.

"It varied from time to time. At different points, different people would have influence," Bolton said. "But I think the sustained answer to that question over time is Jared Kushner."

Bolton also told ABC that the president is a "danger for the republic" and that he won't vote for him in November.

The White House has attempted to prevent the publication of Bolton's damning new book, "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir."

Trump regularly praises Kushner in public. The president recently called his son-in-law "my star" during a White House roundtable with law enforcement.

The president has given Kushner and Ivanka enormous power in his inner circle, and Kushner has helped lead the administration's efforts on critical issues, like the Middle East peace plan, criminal-justice reform, and the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kushner's expansive role in the White House has attracted widespread criticism in part because the former real-estate executive had no experience in government, policy, or foreign relations before helping lead his father-in-law's 2016 presidential campaign.

Kushner has suggested that former White House aides who've been critical of Trump since they left the administration, including Bolton, former White House chief of staff John Kelly, and former Defense Secretary James Mattis, simply "didn't have what it [takes] to be successful" in the White House.

"What I have seen is that the cream has risen and — I'm not going to say what the word is — but that has sank," he told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in a February interview.

Kushner added that the president has "cycled out a lot of the people who didn't have what it took to be successful here and a lot of the people who have come in and been excellent are not out there complaining and writing books because they're too busy working."