Ivanka Trump has re-emerged in Israel this week, smiling beatifically as her father’s admirers cheer and cameras click. She’s radiant, modestly dressed — and, by the way, did you know that when she converted to Judaism in 2009, her father didn’t even know she was going to do it?
Now you do, because of course the president of the United States added a lengthy aside about all of that, one hour into his speech at the Knesset on Monday. That’s after she and Jared spent the weekend addressing crowds at a rally in Tel Aviv, doing a victory lap for something they weren’t even really supposed to have had anything to do with.
Because it’s pertinent to remember that Ivanka’s political résumé is, in fact, limited to “daughter of Donald, wife of Jared.” And Jared Kushner himself doesn’t have an official role in this administration, either, but that didn’t stop him from having a hand in the most delicate piece of geopolitical diplomacy conducted in about a decade.
Now he’s planning the future of Gaza alongside Tony Blair, which I’m sure will make anyone who’s been even casually following developments in the region feel totally reassured.
The entire spectacle feels like something out of a mid-budget Netflix satire about American decline, like maybe if House of Cards had a more dystopian reboot. The president’s child, who once hawked $500 blouses on Instagram, is now acting like an unofficial ambassador to a foreign parliament. And her husband — a guy who used to do real estate, badly — is deciding the future of Gaza alongside a former British prime minister whose most famous political move was following George W Bush into Iraq because of weapons that didn’t exist.
Historically speaking, presidential children have traditionally been props rather than proxies. They wave from parade floats, pose with turkeys and Christmas trees, and disappear into the private lives their parents have bulldozed. If they’re really unlucky, they’ll get called ugly by a Republican candidate for political points. But jumping on a plane to Israel to hype up Dad’s Middle East achievements? That’s not how it’s supposed to work.
Then again, Melania’s recently been on the phone to Putin, so maybe it’s all just whatever.
One can only imagine the field day Fox News would’ve had if Malia Obama had rocked up to the Knesset during a precarious diplomatic moment. Indeed, even the Kennedys — America’s premier political dynasty — understood the need for plausible qualifications. When JFK made his brother attorney general, Bobby was at least a celebrated lawyer. (Obviously, the less said about Bobby’s son, Brain Worms Jr, the better.) Likewise, Beau Biden served as attorney general of Delaware — but only after serving as an officer in the Army and a federal prosecutor.
Ivanka’s most relevant experience, by contrast, is having once been photographed near a peace treaty. She’s an “advisor,” according to the White House, though it’s entirely unclear what she could be qualified to advise on. (Somewhere in the distance, Eric still waits poignantly for his cue.)
Donald Trump, of course, tore up the old rulebook on nepotism years ago and replaced it with a family group chat. Ivanka and Jared became senior White House advisers for the first time, despite no prior government service, and by the end of the term they were floating around international summits.
During one particularly weird moment in 2017, Ivanka memorably took a seat at a G20 table among other world leaders like Xi Jinping and Angela Merkel. She is supremely comfortable, in other words, placing herself in the center of the geopolitical action, qualifications be damned. Because politics is just another Trump business, and every business is a family business.
Now, with her father once again a global headline and the world in varying stages of panic about what that means, Ivanka’s return to public life feels both inevitable and slightly surreal. She’s been largely silent during this second, much more unhinged administration, reportedly attempting to “distance herself” from toxic politics. But now here she is in Israel, right at the center of the action again.
Ivanka has been brought in to soften the Trump brand about a hundred times since 2016. Unlike Melania — whose “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket launched a thousand op-eds when she wore it to visit a child migrant detention center in 2018 — she’s a savvy operator. Every appearance is short and sweet and scripted. Once upon a time, before JD Vance, everyone assumed “Ivanka 2028” was a real possibility. Perhaps it still is.
Trumpism reframed corruption itself, so things like this — once egregious missteps or at least moments to pretend to be slightly embarrassed about — can never be used against them. Nepotism has long stopped being shameful for Republicans and is now aspirational —proof that you trust your own blood more than The Swamp. The fact that Ivanka has no diplomatic experience is a feature rather than a bug. She’s the anti-expert, the elegant embodiment of the idea that pedigree alone is qualification enough.
So yes, it’s a little weird watching Ivanka take a bow for international developments she didn’t engineer. But maybe it’s the perfect image for our era: a woman born into power, blessed by privilege, bathed in soft light, and applauded for simply showing up. Meanwhile, in the background, thousands of scientists at the CDC have just been fired and years of data about pregnancy safety and birth outcomes are disappearing forever. What’s that about charity starting at home? Oh, come on, spoilsport, who cares?
If America’s founding fathers could see Ivanka now, they might weep. Or perhaps they’d just shrug and say, “Ah. So the monarchy’s back. I guess the experiment failed.”
