President Donald Trump said Friday that he won't be the one to decide whether his son-in-law Jared Kushner will get a security clearance waiver if he can't soon pass a deep-dive background check on his own.

The level of Kushner's access to classified information will instead be decided by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Trump told reporters during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

'I will let General Kelly make that decision, and he's going to do what's right for the country,' the president said. 'And I have no doubt he'll make the right decision.'

Kushner has been working in the West Wing for 13 months without a permanent security clearance, aided by an interim clearance that is set to expire at the end of the day.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he won't be the one to decide whether the security-clearance rules are waived for his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose interim clearance is set to expire today

Kushner (left) has been working with a temporary clearance since Inauguration Day, a situation that Trump has empowered Chief of Staff John Kelly (right) to arbitrate

CNN reported Thursday that Kushner's clearance to see top secret information on a long-term basis is being held up by Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

The special counsel's team has not yet finished its investigation of Kushner's contacts with Russian nations and his extensive financial dealings with foreigners and foreign companies.

In a memo to top law enforcement an intelligence officials a week ago, Kelly said that beginning on February 23, he would 'discontinue any Top Secret or SCI-level interim clearances for individuals whose investigations or adjudications have been pending since June 1, 2007 or earlier.'

Kushner moved into the White House with the administration in late January 2017.

'SCI' refers to 'Secure Compartmented Information, the most sensitive material in U.S. government has.

Kelly also wrote that he would be curtailing 'access to certain highly classified information for those individuals working with interim clearance status' unless he will grant 'only in the most compelling circumstances.'

Kushner's clearance to see classified materials is reportedly being held up while Special Counsel Robert Mueller (pictured) looks into his contacts and business ties with Russian nationals and companies

A memo from Kelly a week ago outlined a series of changes, including the end of temporary clearances for people who have had them since before June 1, 2017; Kushner's goes back at least as far as January 2017

The chief of staff ended the practice of routinely granting interim clearances back in September.

It's unclear how much access to classified information Kushner currently has – or needs.

Much of his time is occupied with managing the Office of American Innovation, a business-oriented working group focused on streamlining bureaucratic government processes. He also shoulders some of the White House's burden on matters touching Canada, China and Mexico.

But Kushner is also engaged heavily, and has been for more than a year, in the Middle East peace process. That job could require access to at least some classified intelligence.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders insisted Tuesday that Kelly's top-to-bottom review of security clearance procedures wouldn't have any effect on Kushner.

The White House's process for granting 'interim' clearances has come under a microscope in the past two weeks, after DailyMail.com reported that then-White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter – who had such a clearance for more than a year – was being accused of spousals abuse by two ex-wives

That seems to suggest that he can perform his duties without any access to classified information at all.

Trump defended his elder daughter's husband on Friday, saying that 'Jared's done an outstanding job. I think he's been treated unfairly.'

He is a high quality person. He works for nothing. Nobody ever reports that, but he gets zero,' the president added.

He complained about a 'broken' system that has required 'months and months' of waiting for people with unremarkable circumstances.

'It shouldn't take this long,' he said, referring to the roughly three dozen people who share security clearance purgatory with Kushner.

'You know how many people are on that list,' Trump complained. 'People with not a problem in the world. So that will be up to General Kelly.'

'General Kelly respects Jared a lot,' he added.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Tuesday that 'no decision within the memo will impact anything that Jared Kushner is working on'

Kushner's clearance was initially stalled because he amended his application multiple times: At least 100 foreign contacts were omitted when he first filed the standard form required of all applicants.

White House security clearances were thrust front-and-center this month following the departure of Trump's former staff secretary Rob Porter.

Porter's two ex-wives told DailyMail.com harrowing stories of spousal abuse, information that the FBI had more than a year ago.

Like Kushner, Porter operated under an interim clearance for more than a year.