How Ivanka Trump Is Distancing Herself From Her Dad Since He Left The White House
When Donald Trump officially took office in 2017, he really tried to keep it in the family, appointing his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, as his senior advisors. Critics quickly pointed out that this was an unprecedented move, especially given the fact that neither had any official experience working with the government prior to Trump's election, not to mention that they were the president's close family members. Trump likely preferred having advisors who shared his views and would agree with him on almost anything, and Ivanka and Jared fit the bill.
During her time as a member of the White House staff, Ivanka's official White House profile (via Newsweek) dubbed her as someone who was working to advance "education and economic empowerment of women and their families," while also focusing on "job creation and economic growth through workforce development, skills training and entrepreneurship." It's not clear how successful her endeavors were, exactly, because when Trump declared during one of his speeches at the Economic Club of New York that Ivanka had created 14 million jobs, many pointed out that the former president's math wasn't very apt. Forbes (via Newsweek) clarified that Trump created 6 million jobs at the time, and that it was impossible that Ivanka could have created 14 million within the same timeframe.
Trump made many more outrageous claims after he lost the 2020 elections — and in the meantime, it's become clear that Ivanka is trying to distance herself from her father and his volatile political career.
Ivanka encouraged her husband to distance himself from the former president
After he lost the 2020 election, Donald Trump went on a rampage, and when he delivered an angry speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2021, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner were nowhere to be seen on Trump's list of advisors.
An inside source told CNN that Ivanka was taking a massive step back from politics, and that she'd asked her friends not to mention Washington in conversations. The source claimed that Ivanka had encouraged her husband to do the same. "Right now, he's just checked out of politics," the source told the outlet. Others speculated that Trump blamed Kushner for losing the election, hence his absence. Some pointed out that Kushner and Ivanka had a tendency to stick around for Trump's wins, but went missing in action whenever push came to shove. A source close to Kushner told CNN that his absence at the conference was due to Kushner spending "some much-needed time with his family." This excuse, if the other sources are to be believed, could be a direct result of Ivanka trying to distance herself and her whole family from her father's antics.
Sources told the New York Post that Ivanka lost plenty of friends while working for her father's administration. "Ivanka hated all the criticism and the threats, and was unhappy about how a lot of their friends turned their back on them," the source claimed. No wonder she's trying to create some distance.
Ivanka dodged her father's Halloween Party at Mar-a-Lago
Would you like to go to a party where Donald Trump appointed himself the DJ? Well, neither does Ivanka Trump. When her 41st birthday rolled around, the former first daughter decided to celebrate with her younger sister Tiffany Trump and some friends (those who stuck around after her run in the White House, anyway).
Trump was throwing a Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago around the same time. Whether it was supposed to serve as a celebration for Ivanka's birthday as well is unclear, but it seems she dodged a bullet because Trump came dressed to the costume party as none other than — wait for it — himself. Sources told Page Six that Trump's choice of music at the party mostly consisted of '80s tunes and tracks from "Phantom of the Opera," which left some guests grumbling in protest. Ivanka, luckily, was in Miami (with full control over the music selection, we suspect).
Ivanka and her husband started skipping some family gatherings
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have notably skipped a few family gatherings and events since Trump lost the election, and they were nowhere to be seen when Trump made the trip to Jupiter, Florida, to celebrate the birthday of Kimberly Guilfoyle (soon to be married to Donald Trump Jr.).
A source told Page Six that the couple were indeed invited to the party, but had a prior commitment. "They were invited to Kimberly's birthday party and were so sad to miss it. Their niece's bat mitzvah was Thursday evening and it had been planned a long time ago," the source claimed. The source also revealed that Trump delivered a long-winded speech at the party, so we bet Ivanka and Kushner were glad they were elsewhere.
This wasn't the first time the couple was absent from a family gathering, however. After Trump lost the election, a family friend revealed to CNN that Ivanka and her husband's visits to Mar-a-Lago had decreased drastically. "They weren't around for the usual spring and summer events," the source claimed. Ivanka and her husband also failed to attend Trump's 75th birthday dinner, with insiders telling SheKnows that the couple was trying to keep their distance from the former president's inner circle in an attempt to better maintain a personal relationship with Trump. That really just makes it sound like they don't want to appear anywhere they might be seen or photographed with the former president, to be quite honest.
Ivanka paid a visit to one of Trump's estranged colleagues
While on a family holiday, Ivanka Trump and her husband spent a weekend with Nikki Haley, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and an estranged colleague of Donald Trump. Haley was kicked out of Trump's inner circle after she voiced her criticism over Trump's reaction to his 2020 election loss. She'd also expressed her desire to run for president in the future, something Trump probably didn't approve of.
Haley, who was seen dining with Ivanka and her family at a popular restaurant in Kiawah, South Carolina, admitted publicly that she was trying to distance herself from the former president, and that she hadn't spoken to Trump since he lost the election. Sources close to Ivanka and Kushner told CNN that the family's visit to Haley was no big deal, and simply one of the stops on the way to their destination. But one can't help but wonder whether they were trying to send the public a subtle message that they are truly done with Donald Trump's shenanigans.
Ivanka did not support her father's claims of election fraud
In a somewhat shocking turn of events, Ivanka Trump did not support Donald Trump's claims of election fraud. The world won't soon forget the U.S. Capitol riots that took place on January 6, 2021, or the role Donald Trump played in what transpired. Naturally, there was an investigation, and Ivanka made it clear to the January 6 committee that she did not support her father's claims that the election was "stolen" from him. Ivanka testified that she didn't agree with her father's choice to announce his supposed victory on Election Day. "I don't know that I had a firm view as to what he should say, in that circumstance. The results were still being counted. It was becoming clear that the race would not be called on election night," the former first daughter testified (via NBC News).
Ivanka also testified that her views on possible election fraud were changed after she spoke with then-Attorney General William Barr, who assured her the election had been as fair as could be."It affected my perspective. I respect Attorney General Barr, so I accepted what he was saying," Ivanka said. Trump wasn't happy with her testimony, and in a statement following the committee's proceedings, he dismissed his daughter's testimony. "Ivanka Trump was not involved in looking at, or studying, Election results. She had long since checked out..." Trump wrote on Truth Social. Whatever you say, Donald.
Ivanka distanced herself from Donald Trump's legal battles
Donald Trump has had his fair share of legal woes, and now he's in hot water once again over hush money he allegedly paid to a porn star when he ran for office in 2016. While Trump will most likely be scrambling to save his own skin, it won't be with the help of Ivanka Trump, who has completely distanced herself from her father's legal battles and seems determined to look the other way while it all plays out.
A source revealed to People that Ivanka has adopted somewhat of a live-and-let-die attitude toward her father. "Donald does what he wants, and she can't help him now," the source claimed. "His help is in the hands of his lawyers and advisers. She is no longer working in that capacity." Another source alleged that being a member of the White Huse staff is not all it's cracked up to be, and that Ivanka feels like she lost four precious years of her life while working in Washington. Now, she's determined to rebuild it. "She misses her active social life and group of friends," the source added. "Even though Ivanka loves her dad, she knows how impossible he can be," another source revealed, adding that she's focusing on her children and getting back to living her own life on her own terms — her father's legal battles be damned.
She dropped her brothers' lawyers and got her own to defend her in a fraud lawsuit
For those not in the know, Ivanka Trump is currently caught up in a $250 million fraud lawsuit with Donald Trump and her brothers. The suit was filed by Attorney General Letitia James' office in September 2022 and accuses the Trumps of inflating the value of their properties in order to acquire certain economic benefits.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump made haste to hire lawyers to represent them and Ivanka in the case, but it appears Ivanka is determined not to go down with her family. She went ahead and appointed her own lawyers in addition to her brothers', clearly not trusting their attorneys to successfully defend her.
Ivanka had barely appointed her new attorneys when one of them asked the judge to delay the trial. "The complaint does not contain a single allegation that Ms. Trump directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed, or certified any of her father's financial statements. The complaint affirmatively alleges that other individuals were responsible for those tasks," the attorney's letter to the judge read (via Forbes). After the request for a delay, Ivanka appointed Bennet Moskowitz of Troutman Pepper (who also represented Jeffrey Epstein's estate) as her sole legal counsel. It's clear Ivanka is determined not to be implicated in the allegations, and it remains to be seen whether she'll decide to throw some family members under the bus to accomplish this feat.
Ivanka is not joining her father's 2024 campaign
When Donald Trump announced that he'll be running for president again in 2024, sources told UsWeekly that Trump can forget about his daughter, Ivanka Trump, returning to his side. "Even if her dad begged her to be involved in his campaign again, Ivanka would turn it down flat," the source told the outlet, adding that Ivanka couldn't step away fast enough after her father lost the election in 2020. "Ivanka had a rotten time toward the end of her dad's reign," the source alleged.
Well, it turns out that the unnamed source's intel was good, because not long after Trump announced his 2024 campaign, Ivanka publicly declared that she had no plans to join it. Not only was she not present at Mar-a-Lago when Trump announced his re-election bid, but she also made it clear that she was done with politics and planned to focus on her family. "I love my father very much. This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics," Ivanka said (via The Guardian).
If we were to guess, Trump was likely surprised by her adamance. He quickly took to Truth Social to announce that he encouraged Ivanka and her husband to bow out, saying that he didn't want them to deal with the "horrendous SleazeBags [sic] in the world of politics [...]" (via Insider).
Ivanka requested to be excluded from her family's financial monitoring
Thanks to the fraud lawsuit Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, his sons, and some of his executives are facing, the court appointed an official to monitor the Trump Organization's finances to aid New York State Attorney General Letitia James in her case against the former president. As a result, Ivanka's professional finances were being monitored. She was not having it, however, and her lawyers managed to get her out of this one, appealing to the court mere days after the financial monitoring was imposed.
Ivanka's attorneys claimed that she hadn't been involved with her father's businesses since she joined the White House administration in 2017. "Ms. Trump has had no role as an officer, director, or employee of the Trump Organization or any of its affiliates since at least January 2017," Ivanka's lawyers claimed, per the Independent.
Despite the appeal being successful, Ivanka's still not off the hook, as Ms. James' office still suspects her of wrongdoing. The attorney general's office's civil complaint stipulates that Ivanka was "a key player in many of the transactions" that are being investigated. While she's not in the clear yet, Ivanka's move to appeal the financial monitoring on her own behalf, as well as her decision to appoint her own attorneys to handle the case, clearly shows that she's trying to distance herself from her father.
Ivanka did not say anything to defend her father after his indictment
Most know the story by now: Donald Trump is said to have paid hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels, but he passed it off as legal fees, which translates to business fraud. The former president's lawyer, Michael Cohen, has already taken the fall for his involvement in these crimes, and it's Trump's turn next. Trump was finally indicted in late March 2023, and while his son Donald Jr. followed his father's long-set example of airing his frustrations on Twitter, Ivanka Trump had a very diplomatic approach to the news. While Donald Jr. ranted about how the indictment was nothing more than a calculated attempt to sabotage his father's 2024 presidential campaign and called it "Communist-level s*** on his podcast (via Newsweek), Ivanka remained notably subdued.
Ivanka took to Instagram to make a statement, but she didn't really say anything to defend her father's honor. "I love my father, and I love my country. Today I am pained for both," she said, adding, "I appreciate the voices across the political spectrum expressing support and concern." And that was it. Whether she was pained because of the scandal it caused or because she believes her father to be innocent is not entirely clear.
Before Trump's indictment, sources told Page Six that Ivanka and her husband were planning on keeping their distance from the whole mess, and it appears Ivanka is keeping her resolve.