'The only person Trump listens to' on Iran is family member outside admin: biographer

Donald Trump is listening to just one person when it comes to decision-making on Iran, the president's former biographer has claimed.

Michael Wolff, the author behind Fire and Fury, believes an unlikely insider is the person with the most claim to Trump's attention on the war with the Middle Eastern country. Speaking on the Inside Trump's Head podcast, Wolff suggested the president holds Jared Kushner's opinion in high regard.

Speaking on The Daily Beast's podcast, Wolff said, "He has consulted with nobody. Nobody knows what is going on. Literally zero. I think Jared Kushner knows what’s going on. I think he’s the only person truly inside Trump’s head.

"I think he is the person who Trump most turns to on this, probably the only person Trump listens to. If you wanted to say who is the brains of this operation, within the context of using brains in a very relative sense, it would be Jared Kushner."

Kushner, a former senior advisor to the president and husband of Trump's daughter, Ivanka, has maintained connections with the administration and acts as a special envoy in the Middle East.

According to CNN analyst Steven Collinson, Kushner is under pressure to deliver in his new role as the situation in the Middle East worsens. Collinson wrote, "Witkoff and Kushner might be unorthodox.

"But they have the indispensable credential every successful peace negotiator needs — empowerment by the president. Special envoy Witkoff, a wealthy real estate developer, has been a Trump friend for decades. Kushner has no official government role.

"But he’s the husband of Trump’s daughter Ivanka, and therefore family. Neither appears to have any political ambition outside polishing Trump’s legacy. Each man personifies Trump’s unique brand of foreign policy.

"They’re business tycoons who disdain formal diplomatic and governmental structures and seem to see every global conflict as a potential real estate deal. Each also has huge commercial interests in the Middle East and elsewhere, a concern for critics who believe Trump makes no distinction between his own interests and the nation’s."