Six women in Trump’s family poised to wield power in the White House | World | News
Powerhouse lawyer and politician Pam Bondi may have become the sixth woman to land a key role in Donald Trump’s cabinet after he named her as his pick for America’s next Attorney General.
But some US experts and observers believe six other women – all of whom are members of the President-elect’s own family – are likely to wield even greater power and influence in the White House over the next four years.
They are his wife Melania, who will become First Lady again in January, daughter-in-law Lara, who played a massive role in Mr Trump’s re-election, daughters Ivanka and Tiffany, granddaughter Kai and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to his
eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
Barbara Perry, from the University of Virginia, said: “Just as Donald inherited his father’s real estate business, he is grooming family members to carry on the family’s political ambitions. Trump may eventually depart, but Trumpism will not.”
Republican strategist Mike Madrid said that his party’s sweeping electoral victory to reclaim the White House, win back the Senate and maintain a majority in Congress, has placed Lara Trump “in a very powerful position,” adding: “She certainly seems to want the role most.”
Lara, the loyal 42-year-old wife of Donald Trump’s son Eric, was a mastermind behind her father-in-law’s campaign as co-chair of the Republican Party. The mother-of-two, a former TV producer who was once urged by party faithful to make a run herself for the Senate, famously silenced dissenting voices during a meeting by saying: “I don’t know why someone would be dumb enough to challenge Donald Trump.”
First Lady Melania, 54, has already said she intends to divide her time between Washington DC and New York, where son Barron, 18, attends the New York University Stern School of Business.
The Slovenian-born former supermodel, fluent in five languages, is however expected to regularly accompany her husband on important foreign trips. He has said of her: “Melania is my rock and foundation. The cornerstone of our family.”
Ivanka, 43, the President-elect’s eldest daughter with Ivana, the first of his three wives, and her husband, businessman and investor Jared Kushner, were key advisers during the first Trump presidency.
Mother-of-three Ivanka says she “stepped back” from politics during her father’s campaign to focus on her own young family, but both she and Jared are now reportedly in line for similar roles to last time as “special counselors”.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, 55, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr, 46, is a former prosecutor and
TV presenter. She became “axiomatic” to Trump’s campaign when she ran its hugely successful fundraising division. She is expected to take on a high-level advisory role in the White House.
Also waiting in the wings are his youngest daughter Tiffany, 31, and even granddaughter Kai, 17, both of whom are being tipped as “future political prospects”.
Tiffany spoke for the first time on behalf of her father during a rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, but the law graduate has put politics on hold while expecting her first child.
Kai, whose father is Donald Trump Jr, also made her public debut, appearing on stage with her grandfather making her first speech and then posting on X:
“No one works harder or cares more about the American people.” She added: “Congratulations Grandpa, I love you.”