Weird Ivanka Trump trend exposed in video
The inauguration of Donald Trump this week has revealed something very strange about his glamorous eldest daughter.
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Prepare for things to get awkward in early July 2026 in Washington.
It’s okay, I have not chucked in making jokes about Princess Anne to try my hand at commenting about America’s slow slide into autocracy (weeeee! Down the very slippery slope they go! Hugo Boss uniforms, anyone?) but because senior members of the royal family could be arriving in the US capital then.
Already it is being reported that Crown Inc will possibly be off Stateside next year to join in the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of that Boston tea squabble really having paid dividends, thus setting the scene for what could be an embarrassing meeting.
July 2026 could very easily see Kate, the Princess of Wales head to Washington for this showstopping whizbang-fireworks-a-palooza of bald eagles and apple pie-tinis – and that would see her come face-to-face with Ivanka Trump, who has just spent the better part of the last week basically dressing up as the future Queen.
This week’s official return of her father – the only man liable to get honey mustard dipping sauce on the Declaration of Independence – to the White House saw Ivanka step out for a series of official events wearing a procession of looks that would suggest her Pinterest board is entirely stacked with the princess out doing princess things.
Let us review.
On January 19, Ivanka attended a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in an all-camel look, opting for a skivvy and a classic coat in the same shade.
Well, waddaya know. Kate wore the same look in 2022 while she was on the job.
For the actual inauguration, Ivanka wore a green Christian Dior suit, the tailored foresty ensemble immediately calling to mind what Kate wore only last month to go to church on Christmas Day.
Then there was what was going on on top of her head.
Ivanka’s choice of a sort of sculpted, beret-adjacent hat immediately called to mind the same style of hat repetitively worn by Kate, a woman whose day job is pretty much the wearing thereof.
For the inauguration ball that night, the president’s daughter paired her white ballgown with striking black opera-length gloves – an unusual combo that the princess rolled out for the 2023 BAFTAs.
The next day, for the national prayer service, Ivanka chose an ankle-length red coat with an enormous bow on the shoulder … which was nearly identical to the ankle-length red coat with an enormous bow worn by Kate in December 2021.
Maybe I’m being unfair – Ivanka’s bow was on the right shoulder, how appropriate, and Kate’s on the left.
Bonus points must be given here too, with the first daughter’s coat coming from Suzannah London, one of Kate’s beloved labels.
It has all been about as subtle as when those Bostonians started chucking lapsang souchong into the city’s harbour in 1773, with Ivanka’s roster of looks mimicking a number of the princess’, having co-opted her trademark style signifiers including particular colours, silhouettes and designers.
What the inauguration has done is really cement a trend that has been emerging for years, of the former fashion designer turned political dilettante duplicating various Kate looks.
For example, wearing the exact same beaded, caped Jenny Packham gown that Kate chose in 2021 for the No Time To Die premiere for her daughter Arabella’s 2023 Bat Mitzvah.
Or there was the time in 2019 that first Kate, then Ivanka wore a particular green Beulah frock.
(To be fair, things have on occasion gone the other way, when Ivanka and then later Kate bought the same polka dot Alessandra Rich dress to wear for King Charles’ 70th birthday portrait or the white and black Emilia Wickstead number she wore to a 2022 charity polo match).
The message that Ivanka has been sending with her style over the course of the inauguration doesn’t really require much deciphering – she is clearly trying to craft for herself a very specific image. That is, with the re-anointing of her father Donald Trump, she is casting herself, unbidden, in the role of America’s princess.
What Ivanka’s outfits confirm is her remodelling of herself, away from the first administration when she had a go at playing White House adviser, a role for which she had no qualifications or experience unless Mexico ever came knocking asking for help accessorising the Baja peninsula, to try and be seen like Kate is widely seen. As a woman who is eternally poised and widely popular. Who doesn’t trouble herself with things like steel tariffs or corn subsidies and gets no end of glowing headlines.
I suppose it’s fitting that in a country with more guns than citizens, the first daughter chose such symbolically loaded looks for the Trump famiglia’s victory lap.
And so come July 2026, for those 250th independence celebrations, should Kate be tasked by King Charles to head to Washington with Prince William, let’s hope that a) she has truly learnt to like chicken nuggets and b) there are no international fashion incidents.
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles
Originally published as Weird Ivanka Trump trend exposed in video
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