When Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump accepted jobs as senior advisers to the president (a.k.a. “Dad”), they allegedly saw the gigs as stepping stones that would one day lead to a scenario in which one of them was president. But if the events of the past week (not to mention the past 15 months!) are any indication, political ascendance is not exactly in the cards for these two. Ivanka, of course, has her #WomenWhoWork hashtag to fall back on. Jared’s prospects, sadly, look less bright. His safety net—Kushner Cos.’s real-estate empire—is rapidly filling with holes, thanks in part to his own industry know-how, which could be charitably described as somewhat lacking.

We speak, of course, of 666 Fifth Avenue, the Midtown tower that a 26-year-old Jared decided to buy, on the eve of the financial crisis, for a then-record-setting $1.8 billion by putting down a mere $50 million and borrowing the rest. With 30 percent vacancy, losses that were expected to hit $24 million last year, and a $1.2 billion mortgage due in February 2019, the Kushner Companies’ big Hail Mary plan was to raze the property and replace it with with a gleaming Zaha Hadid-designed tower requiring even more money, including a $4 billion construction loan. Yet so far, attempts to raise funds from everyone from the richest man in France to the South Korea’s sovereign-wealth fund have been rebuffed. And Vornado Realty Trust, which owns 49.5 percent of the tower and whose C.E.O. has reportedly said that 666 Fifth “would be worth a lot more if it was just dirt,” wants out:

The company recategorized how it accounts for the property, 666 Fifth Ave., because “we do not intend to hold this asset on a long-term basis,” according to Vornado’s annual report, filed Monday.

That language typically means the company plans to unload an asset within a year, a person familiar with Vornado’s thinking said. A divestment could take a variety of forms, including a sale, or even a “lender giveback,” two people familiar with the property’s finances said. Under such a plan, Vornado would hand ownership to holders of the building’s debt, ridding itself of the asset.

Kushner Cos. has repeatedly said that whatever happens at 666, the family business will be fine, as the building represents but a fraction of a larger portfolio. But according to an investigation by Bloomberg, in a number of the properties the family gives the impression of owning outright, their ownership stake is less than 5 percent. With that backup plan potentially compromised, Jared may find it equally difficult to remain in Washington should his ambitions not shake out as foreseen; according to multiple news outlets, he can’t even get the security clearance typically granted to people in his position, for reasons that are not entirely clear.