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.
Of course, she was bringing her 13-year-old daughter Arabella, a longtime Swiftie, to one of the singer’s sold-out Eras Tour shows near her home in Miami.
However, it was just weeks after Ivanka’s father proclaimed that he “hate Taylor Swift” on his social media site, Truth Social.
A few days earlier, Swift had broken 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 that he “hate Taylor Swift” on his social media site, Truth Social.
Certainly, the episode has reignited frenzied speculation about a rift between father and daughter and, just days before the election, one of the lingering mysteries of a possible second Trump administration.
Would it feature the return of the power couple nicknamed ‘Javanka’?
Ivanka, 42, and her husband Jared Kushner, 43, became two of the most trusted advisers and top gatekeepers of the first Trump administration.
Even though she was the apple of her father’s eye and a prominent figure in his campaign, the rapid rise of Ivanka and her husband still shocked political insiders, especially since the couple had no prior political experience.
His rise certainly did not come without costs.
Jealous insiders described them as Machiavellian schemers, driven by cold ambition but hopelessly out of depth.
Meanwhile, liberals who expected more from the young New York couple blamed Javanka for failing to rein in what they saw as President Trump’s worst instincts.
In response, Javanka, who had always been a careful curator of his own public image, broke with Team Trump after he lost the 2020 election and moved to Miami with his three young children to lick his wounds.
Ivanka focused on her role as a mother and her former socialite lifestyle, earning her way back into the good books of pro-democratic celebrity circles.
Meanwhile, Jared focused on making a lot of money from investors in foreign countries, people he had met while in government and who have since raked in millions at his private equity firm.
Both Ivanka and Jared have had some success.
When she’s not spending her weekends jet skiing and sailing near her $24 million home on Indian Creek Island, also known as the ‘billionaire bunker,’ or practicing qigong breathing and ju-jitsu, Ivanka is rediscovering a social scene that some predicted. I would never get it back.
She was a guest along with Lauren Sanchez (fiancee of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos) and supermodel Hailey Bieber at Kim Kardashian’s 43rd birthday celebrations in Beverly Hills last year.
Kardashian went out of her way to sit Ivanka next to her during dinner.
Ivanka was also at Bezos’ 60th birthday party in Los Angeles in January. And, in March, he 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 by Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Katy Perry.
The episode has shed new light on one of the enduring mysteries of a potential second Trump administration. Would it feature the return of the power couple nicknamed ‘Javanka’? Ivanka, 42, and her husband Jared Kushner (pictured), 43, became two of the most trusted advisers and top gatekeepers of the first Trump administration.
Javanka broke up with Team Trump after he lost the 2020 election and moved to Miami. Ivanka focused on her role as a mother and her former socialite lifestyle.
When she’s not spending her weekends jet skiing and sailing near her $24 million home on Creek Island, Ivanka is rediscovery of a social scene that some predicted she would never have again.
The same month, Ivanka and Jared made a rare appearance with their father at the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts event in Miami.
For the most part, she has stayed away 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 found guilty of felonies over the Stormy Daniels scandal.
Some might wonder why Ivanka would want to return to the Washington DC snake pit. However, rumors persist that it may well do just that.
Campaign insiders told the Wall Street Journal this month that they doubt claims that 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 “desperate to get back” into the spotlight.
But that’s not what Javanka says officially.
Hours after failing to attend her father’s announcement at Mar-a-Lago in November 2022 that he would run for president again, Ivanka issued a carefully worded statement.
‘I love my father very much. This time, I choose to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family,” he said. “I do not plan to get involved in politics.”
Last week, with the possibility of a second Trump term looming, her husband delivered the same message, telling the New York Times that there was “zero” chance Ivanka would join Trump’s 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 will make a substantial return to the White House if her father were to win, the source did not rule out a minor 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 source reports. But maybe Donald would fill in for her on a trip abroad, she could travel with him occasionally, or she could work on a special project. Nothing from day to day.
The source continued: ‘She will enjoy the pomp and pageantry. She would be at the inauguration. But Ivanka is worried about what the “taste makers” think and it is in her best interest to say that she no longer works full time with her father after January 6, and after his accusations and convictions.’
Finally, the insider added: “Everything also needs to be seen through the lens of her husband and his (private equity) business.”
“I don’t see her doing anything that will take her away from Florida and her family,” a source said. But maybe Donald would fill in for her on a trip abroad, she could travel with him occasionally, or she could work on a special project. Nothing from day to day.
That booming business, some insist, helps explain why the Javankas have no need to return to politics, because they already have what they wanted from it: access to powerful, super-rich people and the means to enrich themselves from those contacts.
Of course, they can get 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, created his private equity firm, Affinity Partners.
He now – controversially – manages a $3.1 billion fund financed by the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as Taiwanese billionaire Terry Gou.
Kushner made those high-level Arab contacts while in the Trump administration and is estimated to have personally earned at least $112 million in fees since 2021.
He has received more criticism for Affinity’s big project: a billion-dollar plan to build two super-luxury hotels on an Albanian island, Sazan, which was formerly a Soviet submarine base. Ivanka was reportedly involved in the design.
Some local landowners and opposition politicians have accused the Albanian and Serbian governments (where another development is planned) of striking unfair deals with Kushner, allowing him to buy land without a public auction to curry favor with the Trumps.
For his part, Kushner has said that, as a private citizen, he has the right to make international business and real estate deals, even if they involve foreign governments.
A spokesman denied any irregularities or financial exploitation.
However, Kushner is the first to admit that the closer his father-in-law gets to the Oval Office, the more scrutiny his businesses will face. He also knows that the spotlight would be even more intense if he or Ivanka joined Trump in government once again.
Maybe Javanka just can’t afford (if that’s the right word for billionaires) to come back and help Dad rule America.
As for Trump, he still fondly mentions his daughter at rallies, once remarking, “We had the simplest, most beautiful time.”
But it’s not entirely clear to what extent he would agree.