Kushner is far less well known than his wife, Ivanka Trump, but is clearly a force to be reckoned with, wielding tremendous influence behind the scenes.

It's widely assumed in political circles that the sacking of Christie was at least partly an act of personal payback by Kushner. Back in 2004, then-U.S. Attorney Christie convicted Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, on a variety of charges including tax evasion, witness tampering and making illegal campaign contributions.

The elder Kushner got the maximum sentence of two years in prison, in part because Christie wrote a tough memo calling Kushner's actions "fiendish." Jared Kushner regularly visited his father during the year he served behind bars -- and years later, reportedly helped kill Christie's chances of becoming Trump's vice-presidential running mate.