As President Donald Trump continues to claim he will only lose the 2026 midterms if they are rigged against him, Republicans are by contrast starting to distance themselves from him politically, as if anticipating defeat. A new report in The New York Times offers another clue into the GOP reading the writing on the wall: a private meeting between Trump’s son-in-law and the Democrat positioned to become House Speaker if Democrats retake the chamber.

“Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, met privately in recent weeks with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and top outside adviser, and discussed potential areas of common ground, according to five people with knowledge of the meeting,” reported The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni on Sunday. “The rare engagement was held in a private space in New York City, offered up by a mutual friend of the two men, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting and a third who was briefed on it. They and others were granted anonymity to discuss a meeting about which they were not authorized to speak publicly.”

Haberman and Karni added, “Through aides, neither man would comment on the session, which was described by one person with knowledge of it as a broad conversation on a range of topics. Still, its timing underscored that those around Mr. Trump were well aware of the likelihood of a Democratic-led House, and trying to foster as much of a working relationship as possible before any change. Mr. Jeffries is in line to be the speaker, were Democrats to win the majority.”

According to the report, Jeffries and Kushner discussed a wide range of issues, including the cost of living, housing and immigration, areas that are likely to remain central in any House agenda if control changes hands. Both reportedly believe that Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is the MAGA insider most amenable to compromising with the other party.

“Throughout this Congress, Republicans have adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach to governing that has failed the American people,” Jeffries told the Times in a statement that did not explicitly confirm the Kushner meeting.

He added, “In every conversation that we have with the Trump administration, we will continue to make it explicitly clear that the affordability crisis is not a hoax, and nothing short of transformational policy change is acceptable. We are fighting for an affordable America. The question is whether Republicans will join us.”

The Times said that nothing from the meeting is yet official.

“Should Democrats win the House, Mr. Jeffries would have to balance the need to keep the government funded with Democratic calls to defy Mr. Trump at every turn, and possible pleas to impeach him for a third time,” the newspaper wrote.

The reporters added, “Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Trump have danced around questions about what their relationship could look like next year should Democrats take control.”