The couple was never ashamed of their combined love for power. When they became engaged, Ivanka Trump said in an interview that he knew Kushner was the only one when he found out that his ambition matched hers.
However, now they find themselves looking at the end of Trump’s ignominious presidency: the United States Capitol still showing signs of the deadly attack by the crowd that violated the seat of democracy, thousands of National Guard soldiers isolating the city, President Donald Trump impeachment (again) for his role in inciting the crowd and the family patriarch stolen from his most powerful vehicle after being permanently banned from Twitter.
To fulfill their goals, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner need to pivot all pivots.
Instead of a final chapter in the White House smiling and waving, the couple is busy trying to prevent the president from saying too little or too much, throwing himself at a grenade that he is not sure will explode, but he is also not able to take chances way.
A White House official sent this statement when asked to comment: “Ivanka came to Washington to repay a nation that gave her so much and to fight for policies that help American working families. For four years, she led policies that created jobs, empowered American workers, fed needy families and supported small businesses during the pandemic. She is proud of her service and excited about the future. “
Ivanka Trump was among those who pressured her father to make the Twitter video that ended up causing him to be banned after the turmoil, according to a White House official.
In it, he told the protesters to “go home”, but at a moment outside the script added: “We love you”.
From her west wing office, Ivanka Trump was receiving calls from Capitol politicians who were literally hiding from a violent crowd. Senator Lindsey Graham, an ubiquitous presence with the president during golf games and vacation trips to Mar-a-Lago, was unable to contact Trump to plead with him to publicly call for an end to the insurrection, a source familiar with the conversation. told CNN. So Graham called Ivanka Trump, begging her to help talk to her father.
It was again Ivanka Trump’s key among aides who pressured the president to publish a subsequent video after his impeachment, again denouncing any future violence or conspiracies to wreak havoc across the country. There were no words of “love” this time.
The latest move was motivated by fear of potential legal exposure on the part of the president, a source familiar with the recording told CNN.
And according to sources who worked and socialized with Ivanka Trump and Kushner, their motivation was likely to be fear about the state of their beloved money-winner – the Trump brand.
“They are trying to keep what little is left to them in terms of salable currency as assets,” said a source, who added that the change from “before the insurrection” to “after the insurrection” changed the state of the empire’s trump from dangerous to terrible.
“The proof here of how (the family) is concerned is how quiet they are,” said another source, who notes Twitter’s gagged lines and suppressed bravado, especially from Ivanka Trump’s brothers, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump .
Ivanka Trump’s planned “farewell trip” to sustain policy victories has been shelved, said someone with knowledge of the discussed public relations blitz. Trump’s eldest daughter did not hide her desire to try to run for public office, several sources confirm, two of whom asked aloud to CNN whether these dreams are now impossible to fulfill.
“The idea that someone will forget that their father incited these attacks is almost zero,” said a political agent who worked on Republican politics. “If she wanted future voters to ignore how devastating the end of this government is, that would be a great incentive.”
Is the future Florida?
Adam C. Smith, a former political editor for the Tampa Bay Times and now a consultant to Mercury Public Affairs, said that it is still possible for Ivanka Trump to get an approval in Florida, where the MAGA crowd is strong and merciful.
“Until there is real evidence that the Trump brand is diminished with the party’s MAGA activist base and dominant wing, and not just among elected Republicans and establishment types, I think Ivanka would remain a clear favorite against Marco Rubio,” he said .
Trump may also sit down to see what public sentiment dictates for her future, or she may want to wait for the required seven years of residency in Florida and then run for governor. A source who knows her noted that Trump never had a problem believing in his own importance.
“Lack of self-confidence is not something she suffers from,” said the source.
With politics or not, Florida at least offers a friendlier environment than New York City, where several former friends said the couple would not be welcome back into social circles with open arms.
The Kushner-Trumps also have a country house at the Trump Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey, which was recently renovated to add more rooms. It is possible that they may land there for a while, but politically New Jersey is also not Trump’s country.
Florida, where Ivanka Trump campaigned several times before the presidential election, could be a partisan refuge, but the ease she and Kushner have had to enjoy their years in Washington with new personas in the State of the Sun is now over.
Family dynamics
The Trump family itself is not the same in terms of relationships from the years before Washington to the present day.
The most fractured of ties is probably the tenuous friendship that Trump had with his stepmother, Melania Trump. The two women are undoubtedly the most powerful and influential in the president’s life, and before the White House years, both knew and respected each other’s territory, according to sources familiar with the dynamics. However, Ivanka Trump’s perceived forays on the trail of First Lady Melania Trump have led to tension between women that is so bad, a source told CNN, there is little desire on the part of anyone to be in the same room.
In recent months, Ivanka Trump and Melania Trump have not, in fact, been photographed publicly together, with the exception of the presidential debate in September and the Republican National Convention in August, where Melania sat next to the president with her son, Barron, their parents and the Pences, with Ivanka Trump on the other side of the stage.
On Thanksgiving Day, Ivanka Trump and the adult siblings went to Camp David, while Trump had dinner at the White House with Melania Trump, Barron Trump and their parents. During the Christmas holiday, Ivanka Trump and Kushner did not visit Mar-a-Lago as in previous years. Although Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have a separate space in Mar-a-Lago, where the first outgoing couple intends to live after the White House, a source said Melania Trump “did not exactly unroll the welcome mat.
Trump’s older brothers also have latent problems, most stemming from how the president has behaved in the past two weeks.
“There were some accusations,” said someone with knowledge of the situation.
But if there was a time for the Trump family to go with their bunker mentality and try an image update, it would be now – or the hotels, real estate, brand retail and any future business entities touched by Trump could be irreparably damaged.
“I think this is a time when the family has to recognize that their actions have had consequences,” said the source.