Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka has been notably absent from the campaign trail, even as polls continue to indicate it will be a tight race.
While Democrats have brought out the big guns, including Barack and Michelle Obama, to help Kamala Harris, the former president’s eldest daughter has rarely been seen.
However, Ivanka made it clear two years ago that she would not be part of her father’s presidential campaign and so far she has stuck to that promise.
After Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign, Ivanka said she planned to support her father “outside the political arena”.
"I love my father very much,” Ivanka told Fox News in 2022. “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,”
"While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside the political arena. I am grateful to have had the honor of serving the American people and will always be proud of many of our administration’s accomplishments,” she added.
Mother-of-three Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, played a central role in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Both were made advisors to Trump when he took over the White House in 2017.
But after a tumultuous 2020 presidential election in which a mob of angry Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Ivanka is choosing to sit this one out – no matter how closely contested the election may be.
The only appearance Ivanka made for her father was at the 2024 Republican National Convention – appearing on stage alongside the Trump family.
By comparison Trump’s adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are at the forefront of the former president’s campaign. His youngest, Barron, has made few appearances along the way but has mostly focused on his studies at New York University. Trump’s other daughter, Tiffany Trump, has also kept herself mostly out of the spotlight when it comes to her father’s campaign.
Even Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, has shied away from appearing at rallies or giving speeches on her husband’s behalf. She did make a series of appearances earlier this month to promote her poorly received memoir Melania.
Harris’s husband, Doug Emoff, frequently makes campaign stops on behalf of the Harris–Walz campaign. Even Governor Tim Walz’s wife, Gwen Walz, is on the campaign trail.
Ivanka said that while she is stepping away from politics, it does not change her relationship with her father.
"That hasn’t changed and will never change. I’ve had many roles over the years but that of daughter is one of the most elemental and consequential. I am loving this time with my kids, loving life in Miami and the freedom and privacy with having returned to the private sector,” she said.
