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The reason why Ivanka Trump says she won’t be involved in politics for his father’s second term in office

While Ivanka Trump will not form part of her father’s White House team, she remains a trusted advisor.

Carlos BarriaREUTERS

As Donald Trump prepares to embark on his second term as president, one notable difference compared to 2017 is that his daughter, Ivanka Trump, will not be part of his staff in the White House.

During his first administration, Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, were key members of Team Trump, serving as top advisors and working on some of the country’s most pressing issues. Before being introduced as a formal member of the president’s top team, Ivanka made several visits on behalf of her father’s administration in 2017 and 2018. Among the list of diplomatic trips was a visit to India and the opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem in 2018.

Ivanka and Jared step away from politics

Still, after the events of January 6th, the couple made it clear that they would be stepping away from politics.

The move away from the Trump world was made even clearer when Donald Trump announced that he would run again in late 2022.

In a statement by the former first daughter in November of 2022, Ivanka explained that while she loves her father, she would not join the campaign team and instead prioritize time with her three young children that she shares with Kushner. At the time, she closed the door on a future in Washington DC, adding that she had no plans “to be involved in politics."

Before Ivanka made her announcement, reports circulated that her father had spent time trying to convince her to appear with him onstage for his 2024 announcement. In the end, Ivanka was not present at Mar-a-Lago when her father delivered the news, while Kushner appeared in the crowd alongside brother-in-law Eric Trump.

New reporting shines light on Ivanka’s continued role

However, new CNN reporting indicates that while no one should expect Ivanka and Jared to be major figures in the new White House team, they still have the president-elect’s ear. Maggie Cordish, a longtime friend of Ivanka’s, who herself worked in the first Trump administration, described Ivanka as a “trusted voice.”

“She’s still his daughter, and a trusted voice, so in that sense, an informal adviser, as we all are with our family members,” Cordish told CNN. As the election results clean Donald Trump’s image, Ivanka could see a realignment with her father as less damaging than it was to her image after the attack on the US capitol following his failed re-election bid in 2020.

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