Ivanka, Don Jr, Eric: What next for Donald Trump’s children?

Donald Trump’s three oldest children had banked their futures on his legacy, but the tide may be turning on them too.

The Trump family on stage after Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the US presidency at Trump Tower on June 16, 2015 in New York City. Picture: Getty Images

Until last week, Donald Trump’s oldest children represented two potential future faces of the Republican Party.

Glamorous Ivanka, a former Democrat and latecomer to the party like her father, was poised to assume the mantle of favoured moderate, while firebrand gun-lover Don Jr spoke to the “heart” of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat-wearing Republican base.

Both have been loyal and proud surrogates for their father within the White House and beyond, crisscrossing the US and the world at events and rallies.

As recently as last Wednesday morning, before the full fury of the siege at the US Capitol became clear, they described the faithful who had flocked to Washington to hear their father speak at a “Stop the Steal” rally as “patriots”.

But as even top Republicans turned on their father for his shambolic handling of the incursion, Ivanka, 39, and Don Jr, 42, have been uncharacteristically quiet.

“Apparently, they’re in hiding,” said prominent conservative commentator Meghan McCain of Ivanka and her White House adviser husband Jared Kushner this week.

The Trump family: Donald Jr, Melania, Donald Trump, Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany.

FLEEING TO NEW YORK

After a quiet departure from their Washington DC homes and a couple of sparse Twitter posts, both Ivanka and Don Jr were photographed in Manhattan early this week.

“His family needs to be held accountable for this too,” said McCain on talk show The View.

“Don’t let Ivanka and Jared off just because they are not saying anything right now.

“Do not let these people off the hook.”

The daughter of the late Republican presidential candidate John McCain and a prominent Donald Trump critic, McCain has enjoyed an on-off relationship with the Trump children which has recently improved with Don Jnr, particularly.

Her criticism echoed that of many who say the younger Trumps are in frantic damage control to save what they can of their political reputations, with Ivanka reportedly the voice that convinced Mr Trump to finally call off his army last week.

Having repeatedly complained that White House restrictions on the family business had cost them millions, the elder children staked their futures on remaining Republican royalty for years to come.

“You can’t really blame Don Jnr and Ivanka for going all-in on their father’s politics,” said one insider, who did not wish to be identified.

“But this backlash isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Anything carrying the Trump brand is toxic now and could be for a long time.”

Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, left, have been dubbed ‘Javanka’. Picture: CQ Roll Call

THE BOOS WILL BE DEAFENING

Although it was their home before Mr Trump became the 45th president, New York City may not be the safest bet for Ivanka and Jared to reassemble in the aftermath of her father’s stunning fall.

Billboards in Times Square blaming the couple known as “Javanka” for hundreds of thousands of US deaths from coronavirus were recently removed after they commenced legal action and despite once being society fixtures the enmity towards Mr Trump from his former hometown has spilt to them.

“I know enough outraged New Yorkers who will ice them socially,” said Upper East Side socialite Jill Kargem back in November when the Trumps were continuing to assert he had been “robbed” in a “fraudulent election”.

“I’m not saying they’ll actively throw tomatoes but they’ll be off guest lists and shunned in restaurants,” she told Tatler magazine.

“Once ‘rona is gone and people are filling Broadway shows, bars, and charming streets for strolls, they won’t be able to do any of that because the boos will be deafening.”

The couple known as “Javanka” recently purchased a vacant block of land in a Miami enclave known as Billionaire’s Row on Indian Creek Island and have been renovating another home on at a Trump golf course in New Jersey.

New Yorkers will ice the Trumps’ socially, a socialite warns. From left, Donald Jr., Ivana, Eric and Ivanka. Picture: Getty Images

A NEW HOPE

Although he has been the least prominent of the oldest three Trump children, Eric Trump, 36, may end up with the strongest future in politics.

His wife Lara, a former tabloid TV researcher from North Carolina who was an active Trump 2020 campaigner, is strongly favoured to run for a Senate seat in her home state at the 2022 midterm elections.

“She understands retail politics well and has a natural instinct,” said Trump campaign adviser Mercedes Schlapp.

“In North Carolina in particular she’s a household name and people know her.”

Lara Trump has said of a Senate run: “It would be an incredible thing”.

Eric Trump’s politics lean towards the far right of his older brother and he has promoted some of the same conspiracy theories such as QAnon and others.

Of Mr Trump’s children, he came out strongest against the current backlash against his father and insisted the outgoing president’s supporters would back him “to the ends of the Earth”.

“We live in the age of cancel culture, but this isn’t something that started this week. It is something that they have been doing to us and others for years,” said Eric Trump amid the corporate desertion that included the PGA withdrawing its championship at Mr Trump’s Bedminster golf club and New York City cancelling its contracts with the Trump Organisation.

“If you disagree with them, if they don’t like you, they try and cancel you.”

Kimberly Guilfoyle, partner of Donald Trump Jr, speaks during a Republican National Committee Victory Rally at Dalton Regional Airport. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

UNDER THE GUN

As for Don Jr, an avid hunter whose social media feed features many photos of his gunned-down trophys, the future could lie with repairing another one of America’s most damaged brands.

One of the National Rifle Association’s strongest celebrity voices, Don Jr is reportedly considering challenging the NRA’s current president, Wayne LaPierre, for the leadership.

LaPierre’s longtime stewardship of the controversial advocacy group is increasingly uncertain after he was forced to repay $AU450,000 in expenses after using it as a “personal piggy bank”.

But even if this doesn’t pan out, Don Jnr will always have strong recognition and appeal for his father’s rusted on base, with Trump operative Jason Miller last year describing him as the “emotional centre of the MAGA universe”.

Like Ivanka, restarting his life New York City doesn’t appear to be in his long term plans, with The New York Post this week reporting he and former Fox News host girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, 51, are also househunting in Florida.

“There is no way they can stay in New York. They’d be tortured in the streets,” a source close to the family told the Post on Wednesday.