Ivanka Trump (left), Jared Kushner (center), Donald Trump (right). Photo credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
During her father’s first presidential term, Ivanka Trump played a significant role. She and Donald Trump have always shared a strong bond, and when he took office in 2017, she was by his side as she began her work as a consultant.<\/p>\n
In a 2020 interview with People Magazine, Ivanka expressed, \u201cMy life is chaotic right now. I\u2019m exhausted 90 percent of the time\u2026 Being a mother is the most rewarding experience, but also the most wild and stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the demanding nature of the job, Trump appointed family members as unpaid advisors in the White House. While Ivanka’s time there was enlightening and provided her with unique experiences, it also brought about some challenges.<\/p>\n
She faced criticism from those who believed she should have leveraged her influence to prevent her father from enacting certain policies. Some former friends distanced themselves from her as the situation evolved.<\/p>\n
Ivanka Trump at the White House<\/p>\n
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, was often seen with Ivanka at various events alongside her socialite friends. However, after the Trump administration took office, Chelsea ceased communication with Ivanka, who had previously been a registered Democrat.<\/p>\n
In a 2018 interview with Stephen Colbert, Clinton stated, \u201cI have not spoken to her in a long time. It\u2019s clear that she has supported policies and decisions that I don\u2019t agree with. I\u2019ve been very vocal about my opposition to President Trump.\u201d She added, \u201cAnyone who works for the president should expect to be scrutinized for their decisions as well as those made by the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a 2020 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Chelsea Clinton shared her feelings, saying, \u201cI have not spoken to her since 2016 and I have no interest in being friends with her. We were in touch at the beginning of the [2016] campaign, but it\u2019s really hard when someone is actively supporting their candidate\u2014whether it\u2019s their father or not\u2026 I don\u2019t want to be friends with someone like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Losing some close friends was understandably difficult for Trump\u2019s eldest daughter. In November of the previous year, the New York Post reported that Ivanka felt disappointed that her friends \u201cturned their back on her\u201d during her time in the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cIvanka hated all the criticism and the threats and was unhappy about how many of their friends distanced themselves from them,\u201d an unnamed source revealed. \u201cShe feels it\u2019s detrimental to her family and negatively impacts her social circle. She desires as normal a life as possible for herself and her family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retailers also stopped selling her clothing line.<\/p>\n
However, losing friends was not the only challenge Ivanka faced during her time in the White House. In 2017, several retailers, including Neiman Marcus, Burlington, and Nordstrom, dropped her clothing brands. Ivanka had launched a line focused on affordable women\u2019s office wear in 2011, but when her father became president, these stores chose to distance themselves from her.<\/p>\n
Later that year, Ivanka decided to close her fashion company entirely. After her time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, former press secretary Stephanie Grisham revealed some unflattering details about her.<\/p>\n
Grisham served as White House press secretary for nine months before moving to First Lady Melania Trump\u2019s office and also held the position of White House communications director.<\/p>\n
In her 2021 memoir,\u00a0I\u2019ll Take Your Questions Now<\/em>, Grisham criticized Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner extensively. The Washington Post noted that Grisham was \u201cparticularly negative\u201d about the couple and recounted specific incidents, including one involving Queen Elizabeth.<\/p>\n According to the Washington Post, Ivanka and Jared attempted to join a scheduled meeting with Queen Elizabeth during a presidential visit to the UK. Grisham reported that they wanted to accompany Donald and Melania Trump, which was a significant breach of protocol for a state visit. However, due to limited helicopter capacity, they were unable to attend.<\/p>\n \u201cI finally figured out what was going on,\u201d Grisham wrote. \u201cJared and Ivanka thought they were the royal family of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Ivanka Trump claims she is finished with politics.<\/p>\n Both Ivanka and her husband held senior roles in the White House, despite lacking prior government experience before Donald Trump took office.<\/p>\n Grisham further revealed in her memoir that Ivanka frequently referred to \u201cmy father\u201d during staff meetings and often called Kushner \u201cthe Slim Reaper,\u201d suggesting he would involve himself in others’ projects only to leave them to take the blame when things went wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cI had shared with Mrs. Trump many times my opinion that if we lost reelection in 2020, it would be because of Jared,\u201d she wrote. \u201cShe didn\u2019t disagree with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Before her time in the White House, Ivanka had designed Trump hotels and appeared in the boardroom on\u00a0The Apprentice<\/em>. However, in January 2021, after her tenure in Washington, Ivanka announced she was stepping away from politics.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d Ivanka stated as Donald announced his new presidential campaign.<\/p>\n Now, she focuses on a peaceful family life in Florida with her husband and their three children. If she offers her father any advice, it will be done privately, as reported by CNN in December.<\/p>\n \u201cShe loves being with her children.\u201d<\/p>\n A source close to her indicated that if Ivanka chooses to influence her father during his second term, \u201cIt\u2019s never going to be something that people are going to see publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer children are at critical ages, they\u2019re tweens and teens, and it\u2019s a brief period. She loves being with them and has found a lot of peace and happiness in her private life,\u201d longtime Trump family friend Maggie Cordish told CNN.<\/p>\n \u201cI know today the cost they would pay for me being all in, emotionally, in terms of my absence at such a formative point in their life, and I\u2019m not willing to make them bear that cost,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Ivanka Trump attended the 2025 Super Bowl with her son Theodore. While she maintains a good relationship with her father, they hold differing views on various issues. Although they got along during their time in the White House, mixing business with personal relationships can be challenging.<\/p>\n With the release of\u00a0All or Nothing<\/em>\u00a0by acclaimed author Michael Wolff, who has written four books on Donald Trump, further insights into the relationship between Donald and Ivanka Trump have emerged. It appears she is not willing to support her father unconditionally.<\/p>\n Ivanka Trump reportedly declined to sign a memo asserting that Trump was not antisemitic, according to the book.<\/p>\n Following the October 7 attack by Hamas in 2023, Wolff noted that Donald Trump seemed \u201cincapable of offering absolute support for Israel.\u201d Consequently, he turned to Jared Kushner, Ivanka\u2019s husband, for assistance. Both Ivanka and Jared are Jewish, and Donald sought a public endorsement. However, according to the author, the couple refused to sign.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Trump continued to waver, the Washington Post understood that the campaign was preparing a piece that would recycle language Trump had used over the years, which could certainly be interpreted as antisemitic. Kushner kept avoiding a formal endorsement of his father-in-law. The campaign then attempted to settle for a simple statement from him asserting that his father-in-law was not antisemitic,\u201d Wolff wrote in\u00a0All or Nothing<\/em>, as reported by The Guardian.<\/p>\n Wolff stated that Kushner responded, \u201cNo, Ivanka and I aren\u2019t going to do that. We\u2019re not going to put our names on something and get involved. That\u2019s just not what we\u2019re going to do this time.\u201d<\/p>\n