Former President Donald Trump's eldest daughter was notably absent from his 2024 campaign announcement on Tuesday and later issued a statement seeking to distance herself from his third presidential bid.
Ivanka Trump, who served as a key advisor alongside her husband Jared Kushner during her father's first two campaigns and at the White House, did not attend Trump's Mar-a-Lago campaign launch.
"I love my father very much. This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family," she said in a statement released shortly after her father's speech.
"I do not plan to be involved in politics," she continued. "While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside the political arena."
She added that she was "grateful" to have had the honor to serve the country and "I will always be proud of many of our Administration's accomplishments."
Ivanka Trump also gave an exclusive interview to Fox News, which has had a notable turn against Trump after his candidates lost competitive races last week and cut away from his rambling speech on Tuesday.
Ivanka Trump told the outlet that she is "extremely close" with her father and "that hasn't changed and will never change."
"I've had many roles over the years but that of daughter is one of the most elemental and consequential," she said. "I am loving this time with my kids, loving life in Miami and the freedom and privacy with having returned to the private sector. This has been one of the greatest times of my life."
She added that she "never intended to go into politics."
"I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish," she said. "I left it all on the field, and I don't miss it."
A source close to Ivanka Trump told Fox News that she was transparent with her father and did not decide to stay out of politics "yesterday."
"This is where she's been since she left Washington," the source said. "She felt she had served the country, and now she is going to focus on her family, and Jared felt the same."
Though Kushner ultimately attended the announcement without his wife, Ivanka Trump's refusal to get on board caused some "extra behind-the-scenes tension" ahead of the announcement, The New York Post reported on Monday.
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Trump spent part of his youngest daughter Tiffany's wedding over the weekend "begging" Ivanka and Kushner to join him at the announcement, sources told the outlet.
"Trump thought he could convince Ivanka this weekend to come back and campaign for him as she was the most requested speaker after the president himself last time around … but so far she's resisting his entreaties and holding firm, as is Jared," a source told the Post. "They both feel they got burned in Washington and don't want to go back and expose themselves and their children to another bitter campaign."
Tiffany Trump was also absent from the event after traveling for her honeymoon, according to the report.
And while Eric and Barron Trump attended the event, Donald Trump Jr. was also missing from the announcement after his flight from a hunting trip out west was canceled due to weather, according to the Post.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., another close Trump ally, also canceled his plans to attend the event, blaming the weather.
Ivanka Trump and Kushner have spent months trying to distance themselves from their time in the Trump White House, The New York Times reported over the summer, rejecting Trump's election lies but apparently doing little to stop him from waging a campaign to try to steal the 2020 election. Though anonymous "sources close to the couple" frequently tried to paint them as a moderating influence in the White House, they stuck by his side through all of the campaign and administration scandals and played highly influential roles in domestic and foreign policy.
Ivanka Trump testified to the Jan. 6 committee that she did not believe her father's election claims but she told a documentary crew in December 2020 that her father should "continue to fight until every legal remedy is exhausted" because people were questioning the "sanctity of our elections."
The committee aired Ivanka Trump's testimony saying that she "accepted" the assessment of then-Attorney General Bill Barr, who called Trump's election claims "bullshit," prompting Trump to issue a statement dismissing her opinion.
"Ivanka Trump was not involved in looking at, or studying, Election results," Trump posted on Truth Social. "She had long since checked out and was, in my opinion, only trying to be respectful to Bill Barr and his position as Attorney General (he sucked!)."
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