Meet the Trumps – is the incoming president about to make the White House a family business?
Donald Trump is preparing to pick his top team after pulling off a stunning comeback to return to the White House.
If his first term as president is anything to go by, some of those jobs could go to members of his large and in most cases politically-inexperienced family.
The president-elect has five children from three marriages – with his three sons all reported to have contributed to his 2024 campaign in some way.
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In June 2023, Mr Trump said he wouldn’t want his children to serve in a second administration because “it’s too painful for the family”.
However, his critics might say that it wouldn’t be the first time he has said one thing before going on to do another.
Here we take a look at the incoming president’s family and how they might feature in the Trump White House 2.0.
Donald Trump Jr
Often nicknamed Don Jr, Mr Trump’s eldest son has become much more involved in his father’s political career than he was during his time in office between 2017 and 2021.
The 46-year-old took up a role as an adviser when his father began considering a third campaign for the White House after losing to Joe Biden in 2020.
He is said to have been helping to make sure his father understands his core voters, with a Trump aide telling CNN in 2021: “Don has the pulse of the base and knows where the energy of the party is, so he’s sort of the go-to person now on a lot of political things.”
Don Jr also advocated for incoming vice president JD Vance to become Mr Trump’s running mate in the 2024 election.
Meanwhile, his podcast Triggered is said to have become influential among his father’s supporters.
It would therefore perhaps be unsurprising if Don Jr, one of the president-elect’s three children from his first marriage to Ivana Trump, lands a relatively senior role in the next White House administration.
Donald Trump with his son Don Jr at an election night watch party. Pic: AP
Eric Trump
Much like his brother, Eric frequently made appearances during his father’s 2024 election campaign.
Addressing a rally in Pennsylvania in October, three months after the assassination attempt on his father, Eric shouted: “Fight! Fight! Fight! They tried to smear us, they tried to bankrupt us, they came after us, they impeached him twice … then, guys, they tried to kill him.”
While his brother focuses on understanding voters, Eric is said to be more aligned with the Republican Party machinery.
His wife Lara Trump is the co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Eric is also executive vice president of the Trump Organization – which serves as the holding company for all of his father’s business ventures and investments.
Clearly trusted by his father, the 40-year-old, who is the president-elect’s second child from his marriage to Ivana Trump, could also secure a role in the next White House.
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Donald Trump with son Eric and daughter Tiffany at a campaign rally earlier this month. Pic: AP
Ivanka Trump
One of the incoming president’s two daughters, Ivanka and her partner Jared Kushner were senior advisors in the first Trump administration.
However in November 2022, Ivanka announced she would be stepping back from politics.
Her appearance alongside her father at Palm Beach as he declared victory in the election on Wednesday was her first of the campaign.
It appears unlikely Ivanka, the third child from her father’s marriage to Ivana Trump, will be returning to the White House when the president-elect takes office in January.
Barron Trump
The 6ft 7in teenager was seen towering over his father as he declared victory in the 2024 election at a speech in Florida.
Barron, 18, is the only child of the incoming president and his current wife Melania Trump.
The teenager reportedly advised his father to go on high-profile podcasts, such as The Joe Rogan Experience, during the 2024 campaign.
He is currently studying at New York University, and there have been reports he wants to follow in his father’s footsteps by going into politics.
However, it may be a bit too early for him to do so just yet.
Donald Trump, centre, with son Barron, left, wife Melania, right, and incoming vice president JD Vance
Tiffany Trump
The 31-year-old, who is the only child from Mr Trump’s marriage to Marla Maples, supports her father’s politics and celebrated his win.
However, there is no suggestion Tiffany, who graduated from the Georgetown University Law Centre in 2020, will form part of his team or enter politics as a career.
Tiffany Trump, dressed in white, on election night. Pic: AP
Melania Trump
The former first lady will know what to expect as she prepares for another four years in the White House.
Mary Jordan, a Washington Post journalist and author of a book about Melania, has said she was like a “deer in the headlights” during the first term but could be a greater force the second time around.
Speaking to the i news website she said: “Melania will know more this time, she will have more experience, she will be wiser.
“Last time she was in the midst of a big feud with Ivanka who took some of the positions for the first lady – it was chaos… This time she will be wiser and have better people around her, hopefully people that won’t let her wear jackets with rude things on the back.”
Donald Trump and his wife Melania at an election rally in Florida. Pic: Reuters
The comment refers to a time when Melania wore a coat saying “I really don’t care, do you?” as she travelled to a migrant children’s shelter.
During Mr Trump’s first term in office, the 54-year-old compared living in the White House to being in a Venezuelan prison.
Whether she will enjoy it more this time, and play a bigger role in the Trump administration, remains to be seen.
Kai Trump
The 17-year-old, who is the daughter of Don Jr, has become a social media star thanks to her speeches in praise of her grandfather.
However, it may be a bit too early for her to join his top team in the next White House administration.
US
Matt Gaetz: Ex-Trump attorney general pick paid women for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, US House report says
Matt Gaetz, who was briefly Donald Trump’s nominee for US attorney general, paid women for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, and used drugs while he was a member of Congress, a committee has said.
The House Ethics Committee’s report concluded there was “substantial evidence” that the former Florida congressman violated House rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct banning prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, and obstruction of Congress.
And the committee accused the 42-year-old of accepting gifts of luxury travel in excess of permissible limits with a trip to the Bahamas in 2018.
The House of Representatives panel wrote: “From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use.”
The Republican, who denies any wrongdoing, had sought a restraining order against the committee in a bid to halt the release of its report summarising its investigation.
The filing accused the committee of an “unconstitutional” attempt “to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations, in violation of the committee’s own rules”.
Last month, Trump ally Mr Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general – the country’s top legal official.
Mr Gaetz said his selection was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the transition of Mr Trump’s administration into the White House.
Donald Trump and Matt Gaetz in August 2023. Pic: Reuters
The Florida Republican had faced scrutiny over previous sex trafficking allegations which were investigated by the department he had been picked by the president-elect to lead.
Mr Gaetz was re-elected to the House of Representatives in November this year but resigned after Mr Trump nominated him as attorney general.
The 37-page House report said: “From at least 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him.
“In 2017, Representative Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl. During the period 2017 to 2019, Representative Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.”
‘Sex with 17-year-old girl’
The ethics panel received testimony that Mr Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old girl, described in the report as Victim A.
It said: “Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex.
“Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”
Mr Gaetz was investigated by the Justice Department for three years over sex trafficking allegations. No criminal charges were brought.
The ethics panel said there was not enough evidence that Mr Gaetz violated the federal sex trafficking statute.
All of the women who testified said the sexual encounters with Mr Gaetz were consensual.
‘I feel violated’
However, one woman told the committee that the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended may have “impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent”.
Another woman told the committee: “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”
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