Jared Kushner hires horror movie publicist to work in the White House

Josh Raffel previously worked for Blumhouse Productions which produced Paranormal Activity

Jared Kushner (The Washington Post)

Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, has hired a horror movie promoter to lead communications in his White House office.

Josh Raffel previously worked as a publicist for Blumhouse Productions, which produced films like The Purge, Paranormal Activity and Get Out, among horror movies.

In an ironic twist, one of the production company's current films is called The Purge: Election Year.

The tagline reads “Keep America Great”, the same slogan Mr Trump plans to use for a possible 2020 presidential bid.

Mr Raffel also worked in public relations for the Kushner family company earlier in his career.

Mr Kushner, who is married to Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka, has been appointed to lead the ​White House Office of American Innovation, which was created to bring business innovation concepts to government operations.

But his West Wing portfolio is robust. He has been deeply involved with presidential staffing, recently launched a task force meant to modernise government using lessons drawn from the private sector, and has played the role of shadow diplomat, advising on relations with the Middle East, Canada and Mexico.

He also recently travelled to Iraq with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

A senior administration official said Kushner wanted to see the situation in Iraq for himself and show support for the Iraqi government. The official wasn't authorised to speak about confidential meetings by name and demanded anonymity.