Trump says son-in-law’s clearance is up to Kelly

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’ll leave it up to chief of staff John Kelly to decide whether his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will keep his interim security clearance.

Trump says Kushner has been treated “very unfairly.” The president complains he’s inherited a “broken” background check system that takes too long.

Kushner’s among dozens of White House aides working without permanent security clearances for the better part of a year.

Kelly set a Friday deadline for halting access to top-secret information for those operating with interim clearances.

Trump says he’ll leave it to Kelly to make a final call on Kushner and has “no doubt” he’ll make the right decision.

Trump was speaking at a joint press conference with Australia’s prime minister.