Trump has 'total confidence' in son-in-law Kushner

U.S. President Donald Trump, defending his son-in-law and senior White House advisor Jared Kushner, said that he has 'total confidence in him'.

"Jared is doing a great job for the country. I have total confidence in him. He is respected by virtually everyone and is working on programs that will save our country billions of dollars. In addition to that, and perhaps more importantly, he is a very good person," Trump told the New York Times.

His remarks came after recent reports that Kushner sought to create the secret communications link with Moscow as he met with the Kremlin's ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, early last December.

Following the reports, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) urged Trump to fire his son-in-law from his position as White House advisor.

Meanwhile, Kushner's lawyer has said that he is willing to cooperate with congressional probes of Trump campaign links to Russian officials.

Kushner is presently under scrutiny as investigators widened the area of investigation of the Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential elections.

The FBI is interested in the details of Kushner's meeting with Kislyak, a meeting that the White House first disclosed in March.

Kushner's interactions with Russians - including Kislyak and an executive for a Russian bank under U.S. sanctions - were not acknowledged by the White House until they were exposed in media reports.