I hope Tiffany Trump has a good therapist. I never thought I could feel sympathy for a Trump, but the president’s fourth child has had a dreadful few days. On Thursday, President Trump’s personal assistant, Madeleine Westerhout, was abruptly ousted from her position amid allegations that she had told reporters the president didn’t like being photographed next to Tiffany because he thought she was fat. Westerhout also allegedly joked that Trump couldn’t pick Tiffany out of a crowd.
Those are pretty hurtful rumours – but, according to Trump, water under the bridge. On Saturday he tweeted that he forgave Westerhout, adding: “I love Tiffany, doing great!”
The 25-year-old, for her part, appears to have responded to the drama in the most millennial way possible – posting a quote from Rumi, the ancient Persian poet, to her Instagram story on Saturday. “Study me as much as you like, you will never know me,” it read. “For I differ a hundred ways from what you see me to be … I have chosen to dwell in a place you can’t see.”
Tiffany, by the way, normally dwells at Georgetown University law school. While we may never fully know her, we know she has dabbled in all the usual famous-child activities such as modelling and singing. In 2011, she released a single, Like a Bird, which is surprisingly catchy. Sample lyrics include: “Feel like I spot a bug crawlin’ through the liquid love / You kill and you tweeted me, baby you go beep-beep-beep” and “I just want serenity / While living it up.”
And that, I think, is all we need to know about Tiffany. I hope whoever leaked Westerhout’s alleged comments is having a belated crisis of conscience. It’s true that Tiffany campaigned for her dad in 2016, so she isn’t a wholly sympathetic figure. However, she hasn’t courted the spotlight like her adult siblings and is not expected to join the 2020 campaign. If any of the Trumps deserve some serenity, it’s Tiffany.
• Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
