Children don’t have to follow their parents’ musical tastes — but there was something almost defiant about Ivanka Trump’s decision to attend a Taylor Swift concert a fortnight ago.
Admittedly, she took her 13-year-old daughter Arabella, a longtime Swiftie, to one of the singer’s sold-out Eras Tour shows near their Miami home.
However, it was just weeks after Ivanka’s father proclaimed on his social media site Truth Social that “I hate Taylor Swift.”
A few days earlier, Swift broke with her tradition of staying out of politics and endorsed Donald Trump’s rival Kamala Harris.
The former president later called Fox News to say he was not a “Swift fan.”
Children don’t have to follow their parents’ musical tastes, but there was something almost defiant about Ivanka Trump’s decision to attend a Taylor Swift concert a fortnight ago.
After all, it was just weeks after Ivanka’s father proclaimed on his social media site Truth Social that “I hate Taylor Swift.”
Certainly, the episode has revived frenzied speculation about a father-daughter rift — and, with days to go until the election, one of the lingering mysteries of a possible second Trump administration.
Would it feature the return of the power couple called ‘Javanka’?
Ivanka, 42, and husband Jared Kushner, 43, became two of the most trusted advisers and key gatekeepers in Trump’s first administration.
Even though she was the apple of her father’s eye and a prominent figure in his campaign, Ivanka and her husband’s meteoric rise still shocked the political cognoscenti – not least because the couple had no previous political experience.
Their rise was certainly not without costs.
Jealous insiders depicted them as Machiavellian schemers, driven by cold ambition but hopelessly out of their depth.
Liberals who had hoped for more from the young New York couple, meanwhile, chose Javanka for failing to rein in what they saw as President Trump’s worst instincts.
In response, Javanka, who had always been careful curators of their own public image, broke with Team Trump after losing the 2020 election and headed to Miami with their three young children to lick their wounds.
Ivanka focused on her role as a mother and on her old social lifestyle, earning her way back into the good books of pro-democracy celebrity circles.
Meanwhile, Jared focused on making a lot of money from investors abroad, people he met during his time in government and who have since poured millions into his private equity firm.
Both Ivanka and Jared have achieved some success.
When she’s not spending her weekends jet skiing and boating near their $24 million home on Indian Creek Island, also known as the “billionaire’s bunker,” or practicing qigong breathing and ju-jitsu, Ivanka is rediscovering a social scene that some had predicted. would never get her back.
She was a guest at Kim Kardashian’s 43rd birthday in Beverly Hills last year, together with Lauren Sanchez (fiancée of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos) and supermodel Hailey Bieber.
Kardashian made the effort to sit Ivanka next to her during dinner.
Ivanka also attended Bezos’ 60th birthday in LA in January. And in March, she attended the ridiculously lavish pre-wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani, son of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, in Gujarat. Other guests included Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, while the three-day event featured performances from Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Katy Perry.
The episode has shed new light on one of the lingering mysteries of a possible second Trump administration. Would it include the return of the power couple called ‘Javanka’? Ivanka, 42, and husband Jared Kushner (pictured), 43, became two of the most trusted advisers and key gatekeepers in Trump’s first administration.
Javanka broke with Team Trump after losing the 2020 election and headed to Miami. Ivanka focused on her role as a mother and her old socialite lifestyle.
When she’s not spending her weekends jet skiing and boating near their $24 million home on Creek Island, Ivanka is rediscovering a social scene that some predicted she would never get back.
The same month, Ivanka and Jared made a rare appearance with her father at the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts event in Miami.
For the most part, she has kept her distance from Donald Trump in public.
She was absent from his 2024 election campaign and did not show up at his historic trial in May, where he was convicted of misdemeanor charges over the Stormy Daniels hush-money scandal.
Some may wonder why Ivanka would ever want to come back to the snake pit of Washington DC. Yet whispers persist that she might.
Campaign insiders told the Wall Street Journal this month that they doubt Ivanka and Jared would choose not to get involved in a second Trump administration if given the chance.
In May, news website Puck reported that Ivanka was “craving to return” to the spotlight.
But that’s not what Javanka officially says.
Hours after failing to attend her father’s announcement at Mar-a-Lago in November 2022 that he would run for president again, Ivanka released a carefully worded statement.
‘I love my father very much. This time I choose to prioritize my young children and the private life we create as a family,” she said. “I have no intention of getting involved in politics.”
Last week, as the possibility of a second Trump term loomed, her husband hammered home the same message, telling the New York Times there was “zero” chance Ivanka would join the Trump campaign.
However, a source close to the Trump family spoke exclusively to the Mail this week and suggested the truth is not that simple.
While there is little expectation that Ivanka would make a substantial return to the White House if her father were to win, the source did not rule out a smaller involvement from the potential future First Daughter.
“I don’t see her doing anything that would take her away from Florida and her family,” the insider said. “But maybe Donald would replace her on a trip abroad, she could travel with him occasionally, or she could work on a special project. Nothing everyday.’
The source continued, “She will enjoy the splendor. She would be present at the inauguration. But Ivanka is concerned about what the ‘tastemakers’ think and it behooves her to say that after January 6, and after his charges and convictions, she will no longer work full-time with her father.”
Finally, the insider added, “Everything should also be viewed through her husband’s lens and his [private equity] company.’
“I don’t see her doing anything that would take her away from Florida and her family,” the insider said. “But maybe Donald would replace her on a trip abroad, she could travel with him occasionally, or she could work on a special project. Nothing everyday.’
Some argue that this booming business helps explain why Javanka doesn’t need to step back from politics – because they already have what they wanted: access to powerful and super-rich people and the means to enrich themselves through those contacts.
Of course, they will become even richer if there is another Trump presidency.
After leaving the White House, Kushner, who had led the administration’s peace efforts in the Middle East, founded his private equity firm Affinity Partners.
Now it controversially manages a $3.1 billion fund funded by the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as Taiwanese billionaire Terry Gou.
Kushner made these Arab contacts at the highest levels while in the Trump administration and is estimated to have personally earned at least $112 million in fees since 2021.
He has further criticized Affinity’s major project: a $1 billion plan to build two super-luxury hotels on an Albanian island, Sazan, which was previously a Soviet submarine base. Ivanka reportedly had a hand in the design.
Some local landowners and opposition politicians have accused the Albanian and Serbian governments (where another development is planned) of making unfair deals with Kushner, allowing him to buy land without a public auction to curry favor with the Trumps.
Kushner, for his part, has said that as a private citizen he has the right to pursue international real estate and business deals, even if they involve foreign governments.
A spokesperson denied any financial impropriety or exploitation.
However, Kushner is the first to admit that the closer his father-in-law gets to the Oval Office, the more criticism his business dealings will face. He also knows that the spotlight would be even more intense if he or Ivanka were to rejoin Trump in the administration.
Maybe Javanka just can’t afford (if that’s the right word for multi-millionaires) to come back and help Dad run America.
As for Trump, he still mentions his daughter affectionately at rallies, once noting, “We had the simplest, most beautiful time.”
But it’s not entirely clear to what extent she would agree.