Professional basketball legend Charles Barkley says President Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner sneaked him into the White House to discuss vocational education policy.

The prominent retired player, who in the past flirted with running for office in Alabama as a Democrat, said he did not want to meet with Trump or be spotted by the press.

"[Kushner] calls me, and I said, 'Listen, Jared. No. 1, I don't want to be on camera, I don't want to see your father-in-law, but I'll come to the White House if you're serious,'" Barkley said on the podcast "Jemele Hill Is Unbothered." The two had exchanged contact information at the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, which they both attended in 2017.

Barkley is passionate about expanding vocational education, and has donated $1 million to encouraging the teaching of trade skills. Trump speaks often about encouraging such education.

"He snuck me in," Barkley said. "We had a great conversation, and hopefully it will go further ... I'm on my mission, and hopefully, he can help me with my mission."

Barkley did not say when exactly the meeting with Kushner happened. Trump ended an Obama-era policy of releasing partial White House visitor logs, easing the privacy of such visits. To evade reporters, guests must simply walk briskly into the West Wing from a parking lot partially visible to journalists.

Hill, the anchor of the podcast, is a writer with The Atlantic. She was formerly an ESPN host, and was suspended from the TV channel for calling Trump a "white supremacist" on Twitter.

In his wide-ranging role as a White House adviser, Kushner routinely works to build bridges with Democrats on issues such as criminal justice reform and tech innovation.