Melania, Barron, Erik, Donald Jr, Ivanka: Who’s in and who’s out of Trump’s MAGA family
Melania Trump has always had one foot in and one out of her husband’s political ambitions. See who in the MAGA Family could define the contours of the next Oval Office.
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They’re cheeky and they’re cocky. Pugnacious, sometimes grumpy. They’re all together Trumpy. That’s the MAGA family.
But of all the kooky characters in the Trump family dynasty, the low-key kingmaker of the next American Camelot may be its youngest scion yet, Barron Trump.
When the fist-pumping 18-year-old made his political debut at a Miami campaign rally in July, it marked a subtle yet seismic shift in the balance of power from Donald Trump’s first White House foray.
Out was son-in-law Jared Kushner; in was two-meter-tall Barron Trump.
If Mr Trump returns to Washington DC., polls suggest his victory will be on a wave of young male voters, especially black and Latino, breaking hard for MAGA. More of the bro vote taking the red pill than ever before.
A dotted line can be traced to the elevation of Barron’s voice in the former president’s ear in the wake of Mr Kushner “stepping back” in 2024.
The husband of Ivanka Trump played a pivotal role in the 2016 election win as a key architect of the digital campaign. He ran a secret social-media team, “Project Alamo”, using Facebook to micro-target voter outreach.
Barron was 10 years old. Barely out of diapers. Eight years later, the centre of gravity in the “Make America Great Again” movement has shifted.
The Trump campaign spends less time blitzing the social media platform of Mark Zuckerberg than the conversational podcast platforms of Joe Rogan, Andrew Schulz, Logan Paul, Adin Ross and Theo Von.
“My son’s a big fan of yours. Barron … He knows you very well,” Mr Trump told Mr Von as they veered through topics from cocaine addiction to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “He said, ‘Dad, he’s big’. Yeah, big one. That’s where it is nowadays right.”
The so-called “manosphere”. Spanning Gens X-through-Z, the new podcast strategy has included appearances with Shawn Ryan, Lex Friedman, Elon Musk, and Patrick Bet-David, as well as the Nelk Boys and the tech bros of The All In Pod.
“He tells me about all the hot guys. People I never heard about,” Mr Trump added. “’Dad, that guy is hot’. [Barron’s] very cute actually.”
Mr Trump’s longtime senior adviser Jason Miller confirmed that Barron has been “very involved” in the campaign.
“I got to tell you, hats off to the young man. Every single recommendation he’s had has turned out to be absolute ratings gold that’s broke the internet,” he told Politico.
“When you look at the impact of podcasts or YouTube shows -- non-traditional media -- part of the thing is you’re meeting voters where they’re at.”
In the political truism that “personnel is policy”, who’s in and who’s out of the MAGA Family could define the contours of the next Oval Office.
IN/OUT: MELANIA TRUMP
Melania Trump, nee Knauss (but originally Melanija Knavs), has always had one foot in and one out of her husband’s political ambitions. Even as first lady, the 54-year-old Sports Illustrated model was ambivalent to the trappings of high office. Now she has as much presence on the campaign trail as her home country of Yugoslavia has in Europe. A mere memory. Beyond a post-shooting wave at the RNC, her most consequential role has been the release of a memoir that revealed her opposition to Mr Trump’s abortion stance.
Unlike Ivanka, she has never publicly said if she was stepping back or why.
Her involvement may flip, privately if not overly publicly, if she’s thrust back into the East Wing as a reluctant second-time-first-lady.
Behind the scenes, Mrs Trump is described as whip-smart with a wicked sense of humour who isn’t shy about what she thinks. And as former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has revealed, when she talks, Mr Trump “tends to agree with her”.
OUT: IVANKA TRUMP AND JARED KUSHNER
Daughter Ivanka Trump, 42, and her husband Jared Kushner, 43, had been the most influential power couple of Mr Trump’s inner circle until they stepped back so their children could avoid the “dark world” of politics. Both served as senior advisers during Mr Trump’s presidency, with Ms Trump focusing on women’s issues and leading the Office of Economic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship.
Mr Kushner had his fingers in almost every White House pie, but most notably in the Israeli and Saudi Arabia relationship codified in the Abraham Accords.
His father Charles Kushner, a close associate with Mr Trump, was a prominent real estate developer who, in 2005, was sentenced to two years in prison for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions. The prosecutor was Chris Christie, a former presidential candidate and long-time frenemy of Mr Trump.
As Mr Trump’s first term came to an end, he gave a presidential pardon to Charles, while Jared left politics to establish the Affinity Partners equity firm with a $2 billion ($A3bn) investment from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
IN: ERIK AND LAURA TRUMP
Into the vacuum came middle child Erik Trump, 40, and his 42-year-old wife Laura Trump, nee Yunaska; a former TV news producer turned aspiring pop star. In 2024 she was elevated as the co-chair of the Republican National Committee in a final and complete MAGA Family coup of the GOP. She set about reshaping the party’s official branding, political platform, election strategy and fundraising apparatuses in the image of her father-in-law.
Erik kept a lower profile during his father’s first two election campaigns as he remained in New York to take over the family business, as Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization. This year, Erik has been a constant presence on the campaign trail and, along with his older brother, was one of the loudest voices in advocating for JD Vance as vice presidential candidate. After the failed assassination attempt, Erik became one of his father’s most effective surrogate attack dogs; linking the shooting to the incendiary rhetoric of the Democratic Party. To reflect his increased influence, Erik gave the introductory speech to his father’s address at the new-look Republican National Convention, which was overseen by new RNC co-chair, Laura Trump.
ALL IN: DONALD TRUMP JR AND KAI TRUMP
Eldest son and namesake, Donald Trump Jr, has been all-in on the MAGA machine since the beginning. But after a near decade of being a right-wing hype-man, he has double-downed to be known as the “Crown Prince of MAGA”. He has his own podcast, Triggered, in the vein of the War Room podcast of fellow traveller Steve Bannon. Along with Barron, he was instrumental in pushing Mr Trump to the “manosphere” podcasts.
Don Jr, 46, has also taken Mr Bannon’s place as one of the former president’s most trusted advisers. He played an integral role in the alliance with Robert F Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard, in addition to Mr Vance. The most politically involved of the family, apart from the patriarch, Don Jr has become the gatekeeper of what he calls the “Patriot Economy” built up around the MAGA brand.
It’s no surprise his daughter, Kai Trump, 17, stole the show at the RNC with a touching speech on the gentler side of “grandpa”.
Even younger than her cousin Barron, the potential Crown Princess of MAGA represents the commotion of Mr Trump’s 10.5 grandchildren who’ll ensure the Trump family remains centre stage until the Sun implodes.
MIA: KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE AND TIFFANY TRUMP
The future Mrs Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, has been dating fiance Don Jr since 2018. Before she was a MAGA firebrand, the 55-year-old was an up-and-coming lawyer in California and worked at the San Francisco District Attorney’s office alongside a little-known colleague, Kamala Harris. Despite a well-documented rivalry with the future vice president, Ms Guilfoyle thrived and became the first lady of San Francisco after marrying the city’s then-mayor, Gavin Newsom – the current governor of California. She left practising law to join Fox News until 2018, when she joined the MAGA family professionally, almost becoming White House press secretary, and personally, announcing her engagement to Don Jr in 2022.
Since then, however, a cloud has hung over her MAGA bonds and her star power has faded. Photos of Don Jr lunching with a pretty socialite Bettina Anderson, almost 20 years his junior, sparked speculation of an imminent break-up. These days, she can be found hosting a show on Rumble.
If Ms Guifoyle fades from the MAGA limelight, she’ll join the ranks of the chronically overshadowed Tiffany Trump.
The 31-year-old has always joined her father’s campaigning, but her appearances rarely carry the fanfare or spectacle of her siblings in 2016 or 2020. This year, the family’s black sheep may be its golden goose. In 2022 she married Michael Boulos, 27, whose father is Lebanese-born billionaire Massad Boulos.
The newly-minted Arab American side of the Trump family is seen as a potential wedge between the Democrats and the powerful voting block in Michigan that is furious at the Biden-Harris record in the Middle East.
No coincidence, then, that Mr Trump casually mentioned, during a Detroit speech, that Tiffany was pregnant with her first child.
“So that’s nice,” he added of his 11th grandchild to join the MAGA Family. Da-da-da-da.
MAGA CAMELOT
Robert F Kennedy Jr, 70, is heir to the original American “Camelot” of his uncle, President John F Kennedy, and his father, Robert F Kennedy Sr. Mr Kennedy was a long-time environmental lawyer before running for president in 2024, first as a Democrat and then as an independent candidate. He joined forces with MAGA as co-chair of the transition team, and is expected to hold a health-focused role in a potential Trump white house to Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA.
Elon Musk, 53, is the world’s richest man, meme lord, and leader of Tesla, SpaceX, and X, among other companies. The South African-born engineer fully boarded the Trump train after the assassination attempt and has donated at least $US75million ($A112.5m) to the effort. He’s expected to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Tulsi Gabbard, 43, is a former Congresswoman, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and the presidential candidate whose debate evisceration of Kamala Harris forced the vice president out of the 2020 election primaries. As a result, the Democrat machine labelled her a “Russian agent” and pushed her out of the party. She’s the Trump campaign’s transition team co-chair with Mr Kennedy, and as an army veteran who served in Iraq is expected to hold a national security role.
JD Vance, 40, is the author of the best-selling memoir and Hollywood blockbuster Hillbilly Elegy. The Senator from Ohio was picked as vice presidential candidate for his telegenic origin story, appeal to the mid-west, and avowed loyalty to carry on the MAGA movement in a future Camelot without Mr Trump.
KAMELOT
Doug Emhoff, 60, is the “Second Gentleman” as husband to the sitting vice president. The high-powered entertainment lawyer would serve as the first, “First Gentleman” in a Harris White House.
Maya Harris, 57, is Ms Harris’ sister and one of her most trusted political advisers. She was a senior policy advisor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and served as the chair of Ms Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Tony West, 59, is married to Maya Harris and previously worked under former president Barack Obama as the third-highest ranking official in the Justice Department. The Uber executive took leave to join the Harris campaign, and has seen been described as her “guiding hand”.
Meena Harris, 40, daughter of Maya Harris, served as a senior policy and communications adviser to the 2016 senate campaign for her aunt, Kamala Harris, and returned as an advisor for the presidential campaign. She’s one of the most branding savvy and effective surrogates, pushing the “weird” messaging against Mr Trump and Mr Vance.
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