It was her moment of glory when, radiant in a $3600 pink silk Valentino dress, she addressed world leaders in Osaka, Japan.
Presidents and prime ministers hung on her every word as she opined on the importance of female empowerment.
Afterwards, as France’s Emmanuel Macron, the UK’s Theresa May, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and IMF boss Christine Lagarde stood in a high-profile huddle, Ivanka Trump was filmed joining the conversation.
If ever we witnessed ‘Peak Ivanka’ – when anything seemed possible for America’s First Daughter and the favorite child of its President – it was at this G20 summit, held in June 2019.
Alongside husband Jared Kushner – the other half of the power couple dubbed ‘Javanka’ – she had swiftly become an influential figure in her father’s administration as a senior presidential advisor.
Granted, neither of them had any prior experience in politics, but Donald Trump’s opponents consoled themselves that the two urbane New Yorkers – Jared a property developer, Ivanka a fashion entrepreneur – might act as a moderating influence on his wilder impulses.
It was her moment of glory when, radiant in a $3600 pink silk Valentino dress, she addressed world leaders at the 2019 G20 summit in Osaka, Japan (pictured). Presidents and prime ministers hung on her every word as she opined on the importance of female empowerment. If ever we witnessed ‘Peak Ivanka’ – when anything seemed possible for America’s First Daughter and the favorite child of its President – it was this.
Alongside husband Jared Kushner – the second half of the power couple dubbed ‘Javanka’ – she had swiftly become an influential figure in her father’s administration as a senior presidential advisor.
Granted, neither of them had any prior experience in politics, but Donald Trump’s opponents consoled themselves that the two urbane New Yorkers – Jared a property developer, Ivanka a fashion entrepreneur – might act as a moderating influence on his wilder impulses. (Pictured: Ivanka with her father on the 2020 campaign).
Not that the Trumps much cared what others thought. And as both Ivanka and her father brushed off jibes about nepotism and ‘Take Your Daughter To Work Day’, the then-President raised her ever higher in his administration.
In 2018, Trump-biographer Michael Wolff made the extraordinary claim that Ivanka and Jared had agreed an ‘earnest deal’ that ‘if sometime in the future the opportunity arose, she’d be the one to run for president’.
Given her image as a young and relatively congenial Trump scion who was popular with core supporters, it certainly made sense to position Ivanka as the successor in a much hoped-for political dynasty.
And as world leaders lined up for a group photo at the Osaka summit the following year, it was indeed Ivanka who took pride of place at the center, with her father on one side and the Japanese premier Shinzo Abe on the other. The likes of Theresa May and Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, were consigned to the second row.
But that was four years ago – and the latest A-list lineup featuring Ivanka couldn’t have looked more different.
There she was towering over Kim Kardashian at the reality TV star’s 43rd birthday party last week in a trendy Beverly Hills restaurant. Fellow guests at the select affair included Jeff Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sanchez, model Hailey Bieber, and others from the Kardashian clan.
It seems fair to say that the outfits – including Ivanka’s midriff-baring sequin crop top and matching slit skirt – wouldn’t have passed muster at the G20.
And perhaps we can similarly assume the conversation didn’t touch on the international balance of trade figures and China’s military build-up.
Sharing the photos with her 364 million Instagram followers, Kardashian gushed that she was ‘so lucky to call these girls my friends.’
Inevitably, the response from many fans was to express surprise that Kim not only counts Ivanka among her close pals – but also that she was willing to divulge as much publicly.
However, others weren’t so startled, explaining that the two women have known each other for years, initially meeting when Ivanka and Jared were busy socialites in New York.
They reconnected in 2017 when Kim solicited Ivanka’s help to get a White House meeting with President Trump to discuss prison reform.
That said, they were never exactly known as bosom buddies, which makes this birthday appearance puzzling.
However, the Kardashian-adjacent imagery becomes less curious when seen as part of one of the more fascinating consequences of Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat: the radical rebranding of Ivanka.
The latest A-list lineup featuring Ivanka couldn’t have looked more different. There she was towering over Kim Kardashian (second, right) at the reality TV star’s 43rd birthday party last week in a trendy Beverly Hills restaurant. Fellow guests included Jeff Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sanchez (second, left), model Hailey Bieber, and others from the Kardashian clan.
Inevitably, the response from many fans was to express surprise that Kim not only counts Ivanka among her close pals – but also that she was willing to divulge as much publicly. However, others explained that the two women have known each other for years. They reconnected in 2017 when Kim solicited Ivanka’s help to get a White House meeting with President Trump to discuss prison reform (pictured).
This week sources close to Ivanka exclusively told .com that, having moved her family from New York and Washington DC to sunny Miami, Ivanka’s focus is now ‘on her family, friends and philanthropic work’ as she transitions from her political life to a more private one.
Rejecting reports that Ivanka’s recent attempts to distance herself politically from The Donald had soured their personal relationship, the insider insisted the pair still spend time together, albeit away from the campaign trail.
‘The two play golf regularly,’ the source revealed.
They also see each other at family occasions such as at the bat mitzvah of Ivanka’s 13-year-old daughter Arabella Kushner this summer, as well having the occasional lunch and dinner together.
What’s more, Jared and Ivanka, who turned 42 on Monday, still own a home on Trump’s Bedminster golf course in New Jersey, where they reportedly spend their summers with the rest of the family.
As anyone who keeps up with her social media posts or who has seen the occasional snaps of her flashing her legs in her new, less formal Miami wardrobe will know, Ivanka is also working on maintaining her fitness.
After four years of long hours and little sleep in the White House, she is said to be taking surfing and wakeboard lessons, playing paddleball with friends and enjoying as much outdoor time as she can with her three children.
As for her political ambitions, the line now is that they are all but dead, with Ivanka instead focused on reviving her life as a socialite – something the Kardashian party colorfully illustrated.
And, thanks to a boost in their public profile following their time in the White House, the couple have been able to broaden their social horizons significantly.
Indeed, the couple were guests at the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan this June and – according to an insider – while there, they enjoyed a catch up with the Prince and Princess of Wales, who they first met during Trump’s state visit to the UK in June 2019.
Ivanka’s attempts to distance herself politically from her father began almost immediately after he left office.
She and her husband were said to have been so infuriated by Trump’s continued insistence that there had been election tampering, CNN reported as long ago as summer 2021 that, despite living an hour’s drive down the coast, they were only visiting him at Mar-a-Lago once every three or four weeks. A big change from practically living together in Washington.
From then, things only seemed to get worse.
The Kardashian-adjacent imagery becomes less curious when seen as part of one of the more fascinating consequences of Trump’s 2020 election defeat: the radical rebranding of Ivanka. (Pictured: This week celebrating her birthday with husband Jared and their three children).
As anyone who keeps up with her social media posts or who has seen the occasional snaps of her flashing her legs in her new, less formal Miami wardrobe will know, Ivanka is also working on maintaining her fitness. She is said to be taking surfing and wakeboard lessons, playing paddleball with friends and enjoying as much outdoor time as she can with her three children.
As for her political ambitions, the line now is that they are all but dead, with Ivanka instead focused on reviving her life as a socialite – something the Kardashian party colorfully illustrated. And, thanks to a boost in their public profile following their time in the White House, the couple have been able to broaden their social horizons significantly.
Indeed, the couple were guests at the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan this June and – according to an insider – while there, they enjoyed a catch up with the Prince and Princess of Wales (pictured), who they first met during Trump’s state visit to the UK in June 2019.
In October last year, Ivanka could very well have copied others in the administration and invoked executive privilege or the Fifth Amendment to avoid having to testify to the House panel investigating the January 6 Capitol riots.
But instead she reportedly testified behind closed doors for eight hours. (Jared also spoke for more than six).
Her testimony notably included an insistence that she’d accepted Attorney General William Barr’s declaration that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the election.
Trump – who still maintains the election was ‘stolen’ from him – was said to be furious and, the following month, Ivanka was noticeably absent when he launched his 2024 presidential bid with a party in Mar-a-Lago’s ballroom.
Trump later denied reports that he’d begged her to be involved in his campaign or, at the very least, appear on stage with him when he announced he was running again.
In the event, Jared did turn up, while Ivanka put out a statement saying that, while she loved her father ‘very much’, she had no plans to be involved in politics.
Sources say both Jared and Ivanka feel they ‘got burned in Washington’ and don’t want to expose themselves or their children to another torrid campaign.
They will also surely be aware that not even Kim Kardashian and her attention-obsessed family will continue to break bread with them if they ever get back on the crazy MAGA band wagon.
Earlier this month, new light was shed on the relationship between father and daughter by an unlikely source – former British spy Christopher Steele.
Steele, an ex-MI6 agent who penned the notoriously salacious 2016 dossier alleging compromising encounters between Trump and various Russians including prostitutes, said the pair’s relationship was ‘severely damaged’ when the former president discovered that Ivanka and the British spook were old friends.
Steele made this extraordinary claim – which Trump dismissed as ‘reckless’ and ‘untrue’ – in a witness statement to a London court where the ex-president is suing Steele’s company over the dossier.
Although it remains unclear how they first met, Steele says his personal friendship with Ivanka goes back decades and that he once gifted her a ‘family tartan from Scotland’.
Ivanka was noticeably absent when Trump launched his 2024 presidential bid with a party in Mar-a-Lago’s ballroom. Trump later denied reports that he’d begged Ivanka to be involved in his campaign or, at the very least, appear on stage with him when he announced he was running again.
In the event, Jared did turn up at the launch (pictured), while Ivanka put out a statement saying that, while she loved her father ‘very much’, she had no plans to be involved in politics. Sources say both Jared and Ivanka feel they ‘got burned in Washington’ and don’t want to expose themselves or their children to another torrid campaign.
And there could be more grief yet, as a judge last week ordered that Ivanka, who worked for the Trump Organization until 2017, must now testify at her father’s $250 million civil fraud trial in New York.
Will Ivanka antagonize her famously combustible father once again?
At least for her, that particular cloud has a silver lining. The more she infuriates her father and distances herself from the Trump brand, the more his enemies may warm to her.
In 2020, the New York Times sneeringly dubbed Javanka the ‘Vuitton Vagabonds’ when it looked like they would spend the rest of their days as social outcasts.
A walk-on part at Kim Kardashian’s birthday party is not exactly guest-of-honor at the Met Gala but it’s proof there is a Second Act in celebrity land – even for a Trump.