Ivanka Trump explains her ‘role’ in her father’s administration… and gets candid about White House ‘craziness’

Ivanka Trump revealed the role she will play in her father’s next administration and opened up about the “craziness” that comes with working in the White House.

The first daughter, who served as an adviser to Donald Trump during his first term, said she just wants to be his emotional support this time.

‘I’m most looking forward to standing up for him as a daughter and being there for him, to take his mind off things and watch a movie with him or watch a sports match, to know that he can be with me and be himself and just relax,” she shared The Skinny Confidential Podcast.

“It’s the loneliest position in the world, the sheer magnitude of the decisions you make every day, how transactional everyone is with you,” she added. “So it’s a very lonely place.”

She made it clear that she will have no formal role in the second Trump administration.

“I’ve been through years of craziness,” she said of her first term in the White House.

But Ivanka speaks to her father almost every day and is likely to be an influence behind the scenes even without a formal title.

In the two-hour interview, Ivanka Trump discussed the massive changes in her life that took place when she joined the first Trump administration, her current self-care routine and what she sees as her future role as a member of the Trump family.

“I hate politics,” she admitted.

She noted that she “loves policy” and pointed proudly to her work on the child tax credit during her time in the White House. Ivanka got the tax break doubled during the legislative process.

But, she said, she couldn’t bear the “darkness” of the political world.

“Unfortunately the two are not, you know, there’s a darkness in that world that I don’t really want to welcome into mine,” she said.

She experienced it firsthand four years ago when she had an office in the West Wing from 2017 until Donald Trump’s departure in January 2021. She was a constant presence in the Oval Office and accompanied her father on his travels, both at home and abroad.

But Ivanka Trump was not involved in Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. It was in stark contrast to the 2020 race, where she was a regular at his rallies.

She told podcast hosts Lauryn Bosstick and Michael Bosstick that her experience in the White House was a “very emotional time.”

“You’re getting a little calloused,” she said.

‘It’s a very dark negative. And some people like the gladiator aspect of it,” she noted. “The fight, that was never me.”

Donald Trump’s first four years in the White House were marked by infighting, backstabbing and leaks. Aides set up competing fiefdoms within the West Wing and competed with each other to gain the most influence over the president.

“Oh my God, I don’t think I’ve seen sunlight for four years,” she said of her role as adviser to the president.

But she said the main reason she won’t return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is her children Arabella, Joseph and Theodore.

‘The main reason I don’t work anymore is because I know the costs. And it’s a price I don’t want my children to bear,” she said.

“My main goals were just like, to be the best mom,” she said. “Every time I had to miss something, the moment I leave the White House, I thought, ‘I’m never going to let this happen again.’

Ivanka Trump served as a senior adviser to Donald Trump during his first term but will have no formal role in his second administration

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner now live in Miami with their three children – above the couple with Arabella and Joseph

Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner now live in Miami, where Ivanka has been spotted going on school runs and watching her children’s sports activities. She also takes up surfing and jujutsu.

“I feel really good about this decision,” she said of the decision to stay in Florida instead of moving back to Washington, D.C.

However, she has credited her time in the White House with opening her own horizons.

“It was a time of extraordinary personal growth and learning for me,” she said.

“In retrospect, I was able to break free from a bubble that I didn’t even know I was in, kind of the Upper East Side of New York.”

She also said that her father now has much better staff and support around him. And she noted that Donald Trump has spent the past four years preparing for his return.

“He has so much energy, support and excitement. And I think the four years have really allowed him to decide how he wants to spend the next four years. And he is incredibly excited and enthusiastic,” she said.