A leading American paper claims that US President Donald Trump has “privately asked” his chief of staff John Kelly for help in ousting daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner from their advisory roles at the White House.

The claim was made in a report published by The New York Times on Friday.

The media outlet said the move was prompted after a number of Trump’s aides “expressed frustration” with the fact that Kushner and Ivanka still had their jobs despite the president indicating that they should resign.

Ivanka and his husband believe that the chief of staff is against their presence in the White House, according to the newspaper.

The daily paper also claims that Trump has spoken to the pair and called on them to stay on at the White House, but has privately stated they “never should have come” to work there.

Ivanka worked for her billionaire father’s company before Trump was elected president and is now an unpaid White House adviser. Her 36-year-old husband is a real estate developer from New York and was also appointed as a senior White House adviser by the president. Neither have previous government experience.

US media reported this week that Kushner’s security clearance had been downgraded from Top Secret level to Secret level due to procedural changes made by Kelly.

Commenting on the issue, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Trump’s son-in-law would continue to play a significant role in the presidential administration.

Trump, who has the ability to grant Kushner a permanent clearance, had earlier said that any decision about whether he can be exempted would depend on Kelly.

Kelly and other top White House aides are currently grappling with the fallout of a scandal involving former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, which disclosed that dozens of White House aides had yet to receive permanent clearances but nonetheless could access some of the national deepest secrets.

Kushner is also in the spotlight after investigations led by the US Justice Department and several congressional committees about the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.