Donald Trump wants to run for the presidency again. The 76-year-old announced this on Tuesday evening in Mar-a-Lago. But his loved ones seem to refuse to support him this time.
At his big announcement, neither Trump’s favorite daughter Ivanka nor her husband Jared Kushner wanted to step onto the podium next to Trump. The former president had fervently wanted that, insiders revealed in the US media. In contrast to his previous two races for the White House, Trump’s closest family members show “zero interest” in an election campaign this time, it is said.
And that despite the fact that, according to the New York Post, Trump had urged his eldest daughter and her husband just a few days earlier to accompany him on stage. During his youngest daughter Tiffany’s wedding reception, he repeatedly made it clear to Ivanka and Jared how much their support would mean to him on stage on Tuesday. Tiffany Trump married billionaire son Michael Boulos in Mar-a-Lago last weekend.
“Trump thought that over the weekend he would be able to persuade Ivanka to come back and campaign for him, but so far she and Jared have been staunchly turning down all requests,” a source told the newspaper. “Both of them don’t want to go back to Washington and put themselves and their children through another bitter campaign.”
Ivanka and Jared once expected more from their commitment to Trump’s tenure in the White House, it is said. Persistent allegations of incompetence and nepotism hit the couple hard. After the events of early 2021 and the storming of the Capitol, distancing themselves from Trump seemed inevitable.
“Ivanka would never want a life like that again,” a source told CNN. “She just knows it wouldn’t do her or her family any good.” Another insider confirmed, “Since she moved away, she’s drawn a line under Washington. That doesn’t change anymore either.” Despite repeated requests, she did not support any candidate in the recent midterm elections.
Jared Kushner’s resolution is similar: “He doesn’t want to take part in any election campaigns anymore,” according to an acquaintance of Kushner’s. “While he is on good terms with his father-in-law and does make an effort to look after him, more than the occasional piece of advice is all you can expect.”
The Kushners’ stubbornness is now causing “extra tension behind the scenes,” the family confidante continued – especially since Ivanka’s brothers are already looking forward to the race for the nomination and want to fully support their father. Don Junior’s fiancee Kimberley Guilfoyle and Eric’s wife Lara Trump can hardly wait for the election campaign, it is said.
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Not so Melania: “It was no fun for our great First Lady. It was anything but a pleasure,” Trump said yesterday as he asked his wife to stand from the podium. Melania smiled to the applause though. But the former First Lady is “not happy”. And according to CNN, this could become a problem in the election campaign: US media reports that Trump blamed Melania for the Republicans’ midterm losses would have deeply upset the 52-year-old.
“The extremely reserved Melania didn’t like her name being on the news at all. Soon after, Trump apologized on his network Truth Social for what he called “made up,” according to CNN correspondent Kate Bennett.
According to the New York Times, on midterm election night, Trump loudly and angrily accused his wife of advising him to support Senate candidate Mehmet Oz. Melania was considered a big fan of the TV Doctor Oz. But the Republican and former TV star lost to Democrat John Fetterman in Pennsylvania. Overall, only three candidates that Trump had campaigned for won on November 8th. Thirteen of “his” candidates failed.
Melania hates having her name in the media, Bennett told CNN: “Most importantly, she doesn’t want her name to be associated with her husband’s tantrums. The atmosphere is just supercooled. I don’t think she has the slightest intention of campaigning.”
But it’s not just his loved ones who refuse to support Trump. His former mouthpiece Fox News also warned not to support him again. This time the conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch wants to bet on Ron DeSantis. After the midterms, his most influential media outlets were already heavily criticizing Trump: The reputable Wall Street Journal called him the “biggest loser in the Republican Party” – the New York Post reported on Trump’s “flops”, “fiasco” and “sabotage”. A senior Murdoch official summed it up: “We made it very clear to Trump: we cannot support another race.”
