The Stunning Transformation Of Tiffany Trump
Tiffany Trump is probably the most reclusive out of President Donald Trump's five children, who include Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and Barron. The only child from Trump's second wife, Marla Maples, Tiffany has flown under the radar for most of her life. While she isn't as visible as her older siblings and hasn't gotten too involved in the political sphere, that doesn't mean that she doesn't lead an exciting life.
Tiffany grew up in California, on the opposite coast from most of her family. Her isolation from the Trump clan is part of why you haven't heard much from her, although the younger Trump daughter has been making waves for quite a few years. She may have been overshadowed by her older siblings until now, but all of that is starting to change as Tiffany comes into her own. From her early years on the West Coast to her status as the president's daughter, Tiffany Trump's transformation into young adulthood has been fascinating to witness.
Tiffany Trump's parents' relationship sent the media into a frenzy
The media largely sided with Donald Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump, after the press revealed he was having an affair with TV personality Marla Maples. Later, their marriage and Tiffany Trump's birth became tabloid fodder. The scandal had a big impact on Tiffany's life, though she was too young to know what was going on at the time. If it hadn't been for the scandal, her parents might never have married — something the president himself admitted in a 1994 interview with ABC Primetime Live. "My life was so great in so many ways," he said. "The business was so great... a beautiful girlfriend, a beautiful wife, a beautiful everything. Life was just a bowl of cherries."
In a 2004 interview with Howard Stern (via Newsweek), Donald Trump said that he wasn't exactly thrilled when his then-girlfriend became pregnant during their affair and that Tiffany had not been planned. "I'm glad it happened," he said. "I have a great little daughter. ...But, you know, at the time it was like, 'Excuse me, what happened?' And then I said, 'Well, what are we going to do about this?' [Marla] said, 'Are you serious? It's the most beautiful day of our lives.' I said, 'Oh, great.'"
Tiffany Trump was raised by a single mother
Donald Trump and Marla Maples' marriage didn't start under the most ideal of circumstances, so it wasn't too surprising when the two separated after four years of marriage and divorced in 1999. Maples raised Tiffany Trump as a single mother. Tiffany said that she and her mom were always close, telling People, "We were always together, driving me to school, carpooling, singing songs, dancing around, me making fun of her dance moves."
Maples said that she did most of the parenting. "Her daddy is a good provider with education and such, but as far as time, it was just me," she told People. "Her father wasn't able to be there with day-to-day skills as a parent. He loves his kids. There's no doubt. But everything was a bit of a negotiation." Maples chose to remain single so that she could focus on raising her daughter, and she also made sure to cultivate a relationship between Tiffany and her father. "I just said it's important for her to form her own relationship with him, without my input," she said. "I wanted to create some consistency where she could see him."
Tiffany Trump grew up out of the spotlight
After the split, Marla Maples moved herself and her young daughter across the country. "She moved us out of New York to get out of the spotlight and let me grow up and find my own identity versus being in the shadow of a name or growing up very young with all that pressure," Tiffany Trump told People. "So, she wanted me to have a chance to have a normal childhood. As normal as possible. I think that she did well in that."
Of course, Tiffany was still a Trump, so her life was far from ordinary. While she wasn't as in the spotlight like she would have been had she grown up near her dad and siblings in New York, she still traveled in affluent circles in California where she rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous. Her mom was pals with Kris Jenner, and Tiffany Trump went to a private school.
Tiffany Trump blossomed into an Instagram celebrity
She may have spent her early years out of the limelight, but Tiffany Trump is a household name these days, and not just because of her dad. She's transformed herself into something of a social media maven and, as of this writing, has 1.2 million followers on Instagram. Prior to her dad's political career, Tiffany Trump famously palled it up with other rich kids on the social media platform, posing alongside the likes of Kyra Kennedy (daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.), fashion designer Andrew Warren, and Gaia Matisse (great-great granddaughter of renowned French artist Henri Matisse). Pictures of them often made it onto the now-defunct Rich Kids of Instagram account, and the young Trump's feed was filled with selfies.
Once her dad announced his presidential bid, however, Tiffany suddenly disappeared from her friends' photos, and her feed morphed from a series of selfies to shots of her with her family. Since then, however, she has once again reunited with the "Snap Pack" and her social media fame is greater than ever.
Tiffany Trump broke into the music business
Could the future see Tiffany Trump emerge as the next big pop sensation? She released the single "Like a Bird" in 2011, featuring Sprite & Logic (but not the famous rapper Logic that you're probably thinking of).
Tiffany Trump was just 17 when the song came out. The song is pretty heavy on the auto-tune, so it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. A friend of the family told The New York Post that, around the time the single dropped, "Tiffany kept saying how she was going to be a pop star," but it seems her music career has been put on hold, perhaps because of the lukewarm reception the track received.
"[Music is] more of a hobby right now, but we'll see in a couple of years if I actually do want to take it to the next level — to a professional level," she told Oprah Winfrey the year it was released (via Bustle). "But right now my priority is focusing on school and getting into a good college."
The truth about Tiffany Trump's relationship with her dad
Since she grew up clear on the other side of the country, Tiffany Trump didn't get a lot of daddy-daughter time growing up. The media has been quick to point out the fact that Donald Trump seems to talk about Ivanka Trump, his only other daughter, far more than he talks about Tiffany. There are also a lot of rumors that Tiffany's relationship with her dad is tense, but Tiffany swears he has always been in her corner. "He was always just the most funniest, loving father," she told People.
For his part, Donald appears to be proud of his younger daughter. "Tiffany is a tremendous young woman with a big and beautiful heart," he told The New York Times. "She was always a great student and a very popular person no matter where she went. I am incredibly proud of Tiffany and how well she has done."
Tiffany Trump gave a speech supporting her dad when he ran for president
There's no question that Tiffany Trump and her dad are close today. Tiffany may not have been as visible on the campaign trail as her sister, Ivanka Trump, but she did turn up at the 2016 Republican National Convention to give a speech in support of dad Donald Trump's presidential bid. She had just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (her dad's alma mater) a couple months earlier, and, in her words, was "new to the convention scene" but still pulled off an impressive speech honoring her father.
Tiffany talked about the qualities she thought would make her dad a good president, and also described what a great father he had been to her. "He's always helped me be the best version of myself by encouragement and by example," she said. "He motivates me to work my hardest and to always stay true to who I am and what I believe. That's what he does: he draws out the talent and drive in people so that they can achieve their full potential. That's a great quality to have in a father and better yet in the president of the United States."
Tiffany Trump interned for Vogue
Tiffany Trump has exhibited an affinity for fashion and even explored it as a potential career with an internship at Vogue. Scoring an internship at the popular magazine is no easy feat. Fortunately, she had a famous figure helping her out, but it wasn't her dad. Her older sister, Ivanka Trump, helped Tiffany land the prestigious gig. According to the Daily Mail, the elder Trump daughter said her little sister worked hard at her job. "She would go to work at 5:30am and even got to have lunch with Anna Wintour," she said.
Like so many other things in Tiffany's life, the details of her internship haven't been revealed. We do know that it took place the summer she was 17 and that her mother was thrilled at her daughter's opportunity. To Broadway.com, Marla Maples said, "This is going to be a real adventure for her. I'm so excited for her."
Tiffany Trump strutted down the catwalk
There have been a lot of models in the Trump family. All of Trump's wives — Ivana Trump, Marla Maples, and Melania Trump — have been models. Ivanka Trump also modeled for a short time, and was formerly signed to Elite Model Management Corp. For a time, it looked like Tiffany Trump might follow in the footsteps of her mom, stepmother, and older sister, but her stint on the catwalk was brief. Early in 2016, the then-college student made her modeling debut during New York Fashion Week at the Just Drew show.
Tiffany chose not to publicize the event, which may have been a sign that she was doing the show for fun and wasn't choosing to make a career out of it. Her modeling was, however, part of her official bio in 2016, where she was listed on the official Republican National Convention website (via Romper) as "a fashion model, singer, and influential presence on social media."
Things have sometimes been tense between Tiffany Trump and her older siblings
While Donald Trump's older children, Donald Jr, Eric, and Ivanka, had each other growing up, Tiffany Trump was on her own without any siblings to hang out with. Since she lived so far away, she also wasn't able to bond with her other siblings as much as she would have if they spent more time together. This has led to some speculation that she isn't very close to them, and their dad has admitted that the older kids might be a bit jealous of their little sister.
In 2017, previously archived tapes of Donald Trump on The Howard Stern show were released. In the recording, which is from 2005 and was obtained by Newsweek, he claimed that Donald Jr. and Ivanka were conspiring to "bump off" Tiffany and cut her out of the Trump fortune. Whether or not this is true, Tiffany probably doesn't have anything to worry about since the Trump fortune is vast enough to fund a substantial inheritance for each of his kids.
Ivanka Trump is Tiffany Trump's best friend
Whether or not the rivalry between the Trump kids is real, it looks like the girls are sticking together. They might not have grown up together, but that didn't stop Tiffany Trump and Ivanka Trump from developing a special bond. Tiffany has called Ivanka her "best friend" on Instagram, and Ivanka has always looked out for her little sis. Helping her land that internship at Vogue would have already given her super big sister status, but Ivanka has also gone to bat for Tiffany in the press and seems to be sincerely proud of the younger Trump daughter.
"Tiffany has always been a very special person, very confident, very driven, always the hardest worker and not bashful about it," she told The New York Times in 2016. "A lot of people are happy to get by without doing a lot of work, or work hard and pretend they don't. She is proud of her work."
Tiffany Trump pursued a law degree
Tiffany Trump's older siblings are busy working for their dad in various ways. Donald Trump Jr. is a trustee of the Trump Organization, as is his brother, Eric Trump. Eric also serves as Executive Vice President of the organization. Ivanka Trump is an advisor to the president and, according to her official White House bio, "focuses on the education and economic empowerment of women and their families as well as job creation and economic growth through workforce development, skills training and entrepreneurship." Before her dad was elected to office, Ivanka also worked for the Trump Organization, overseeing development and acquisitions.
While Tiffany has said she would one day like to follow her brothers and sister into the family business, she wants to bring something different to the table. The younger Trump daughter entered her first year at Georgetown Law in 2017. In May 2020, Tiffany graduated from law school, as reported by CNN. "Congratulations to my fellow Georgetown Law's Class of 2020! We did it!" she reportedly wrote on Instagram alongside a video from Georgetown.
Is Tiffany Trump secretly a Democrat?
While Tiffany Trump is publicly supportive of her dad, many people think that she might have some liberal leanings. In 2017, she showed up to President Donald Trump's inauguration with her then-boyfriend, registered Democrat Ross Mechanic, in tow (via Page Six). While the two have since split up, Tiffany has appeared to quietly oppose some of her father's political stances. In 2018, she publicly celebrated LGBT Pride Month with her friends, despite the fact that her father has ignored observing the month throughout his presidency. The younger Trump daughter has also showed support for gun control, liking anti-gun posts on Instagram, including one anti-Republican picture of a man holding a sign that read, "Next massacre will be the GOP in the midterm elections," as reported by Business Insider.
In February 2019, Tiffany again stirred up speculation about her political leanings when she wore white to the State of the Union address. Nicholas Fandos, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times, said, "Most of the Democratic women of the House ... are dressed in head to toe white tonight in homage to the women's suffrage movement to spotlight issues like reproductive rights and equal pay." So, could Tiffany's white outfit have been a political statement?
Tiffany Trump is staying focused on her future
Tiffany Trump has gone from living life under the radar to constantly being in the spotlight. Being a celebrity is going to come with significant criticism no matter who your dad is, but the negative comments are bound to be more intense when you are the daughter of a famous businessman who just so happens to also be the president of the United States. While she knows that a lot of her dad's detractors also have some pretty mean things to say about her, she's avoiding the hostility as much as possible and, rather than letting it get her down, is focusing on her education and her future.
When things really get tough, Tiffany Trump is able to turn to her mom for support and advice to deal with the haters. Marla Maples spoke to CNN about the coping strategy she and her daughter use to deal with negative comments. "You can't [pay attention to it] and my daughter [Tiffany], too," she said. "Every now and then we'll see it and it's painful. We just have to talk each other through it and keep focus on what you're giving in the world. That's all you can focus on."