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Donald and Melania Trump’s state visit with the royal family might have had some behind-the-scenes politics at play — and it had nothing to do with Washington, D.C.
The Trump family is reportedly not the united front the public always sees; the long-rumored feud between the first lady and Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, might be in play. Royal fans noticed that Tiffany Trump and her husband, Michael Boulos, attended the state dinner, but Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, were absent.
The high-profile banquet felt like one of the few events that Ivanka and Kushner might attend, even though they have put their political careers in the rearview mirror. A NewsNation source revealed why the power couple was not invited this time around, especially after Melania felt “overshadowed” by her stepdaughter during their 2019 state visit.
“That wasn’t going to happen again,” the insider shared. “Melania is much more in power and control than she was in the first presidency and didn’t want Ivanka coming to this meeting.”
A 2024 book by Katie Rogers, American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden, chronicled the combative relationship between Melania and Ivanka. The first lady reportedly referred to Ivanka as “The Princess” behind her back and the women were constantly “locked in a quiet competition for press coverage.”
The rivalry first reared its ugly head when Melania waited to move to the White House in 2017 so son Barron could finish out his school year. That’s when Ivanka saw her opening.
“Melania lived in New York. She didn’t appear in public or release statements to the press. Her social media was quiet,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff wrote in her 2020 book, Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady. “Ivanka rushed in to fill the void as ‘acting’ First Lady, issuing constant social media posts and press releases galore about her involvement with women’s issues, lobbying Daddy about climate change (alas, unsuccessfully), and attending every meeting she could slink her way into.”
Ivanka and Kushner also wrangled their way into the 2019 state visit, but tried their best to defy royal protocol. The couple reportedly wanted an audience with Queen Elizabeth, according to former White House Press Secretary and Chief of Staff Stephanie Grisham’s tell-all book, I’ll Take Your Questions Now. They were denied because there wasn’t enough room in the helicopter, but they sure tried.
“I finally figured out what was going on,” Grisham wrote. “Jared and Ivanka thought they were the royal family of the United States.”
It sounds like Melania didn’t want a repeat from last time, so Tiffany took Ivanka’s place with a background role away from the first lady’s spotlight.
