Trump Family Members With Future Political Aspirations
Although Donald Trump seems to have been running for president since his fateful descent down a golden escalator in Manhattan's Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, that doesn't mean other members of the Trump clan don't also have political aspirations.
All the attention is often put on the former president and always has, but it's no secret he is getting older and can't be a presidential candidate — officially or unofficially — forever. He has children who also crave the attention he receives, and there are some people in America who just can't seem to get enough of the Trump family.
During his presidency, he even had members of his family serve in his administration, with his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, serving as senior White House advisors. While Kushner was tasked with everything from creating peace in the Middle East to solving the opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic (via NBC), it was never really clear what Ivanka did, but they were there by his side all for years.
While his other adult children, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Tiffany Trump, did not work for their father's presidency, they also sought attention where they could get it. But does that mean they all have political aspirations like The Donald?
The Trump children might start smaller than Donald Trump
According to Forbes, both Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have floated the idea of Senate runs. Don Jr. might go for an open Senate seat in Pennsylvania now that Republican Senator Pat Toomey is not running for re-election in 2022. If he did, he might have a hard time beating the current Democratic favorite as of this writing, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who won the statewide election by a whopping 17 points in 2018 (via The New York Times).
Forbes also reported in January 2021 that Ivanka Trump, who now makes her home in Miami, would run in the Florida Republican primary to take the seat currently held by Senator Marco Rubio.
Ivanka's younger brother, Eric, has not discussed a serious candidacy, but there has been talk about his wife, Lara Trump, going for the Senate seat that Richard Burr is giving up in North Carolina.
Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, doesn't seem to have political aspirations at this moment as he is busy starting a new investment firm and looks like he wants to get back to the business of being a businessman. He also plans to release a book in 2022 (via Reuters).
Does Tiffany Trump have political aspirations?
Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump's daughter from his second marriage, to Marla Maples, seems slightly different than her half-siblings. As far back as 2013, she admitted to Oprah Winfrey that her life had been different from the other Trumps.
"Since I have grown up on the West Coast, I'm definitely different from all of them growing up on the East Coast," Tiffany said (via E! Online). "It was great for me getting to grow up as a normal kid just out of the spotlight, versus all of them growing up in New York. They always had that intense media and spotlight on them."
Tiffany stayed pretty quiet through much of the Trump presidency, although she was in Washington, D.C., attending Georgetown Law School. As of this writing, she is also planning a wedding to Michael Boulos, who proposed to her in the White House Rose Garden not long before her father's presidency came to an end. According to People, they are considering a wedding in Greece.
Would Mary Trump ever run for office?
Finally, one has to wonder about Mary Trump, Donald Trump's niece, who is a staunch Democrat and liberal. She has already written two books about her uncle that delve into his childhood, mental health, and lasting legacy on America.
Her first book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," catapulted her to the status of liberal icon in 2020. Her second book, "The Reckoning: Our Nation's Trauma and Finding a Way To Heal," kept her in the spotlight in 2021. But would she ever run for office? As she told The Advocate, maybe — or maybe not.
"I can't say that I would never do it, on the one hand, but on the other hand I really think there is something to be said for staying outside of politics and having a voice," she said. "I don't have to be constrained in a way that I would be if I was a politician, and had to spend most of my time raising money. Now, I live in New York City, one of the most liberal parts of the country, so it's not like I wouldn't be representing people who are a different political stripe than I am. But that's a question that I honestly don't have an answer for, at least not yet."