Stories to watch: All-in-the-family government
Donald Trump is in the White House, and Yahoo News is taking a look at the top stories to watch in his first 100 days. From the unusual role family members will play as White House advisors to his promises to aggressively transform U.S. trade policy, and from investigations into Russian election interference to his relationship with Paul Ryan, we’ll be rolling out 15 stories over five days — signposts for the road ahead.
The stakes: After a campaign in which they were considered one of his biggest political assets, Donald Trump’s family is expected to play an unprecedented role in his presidency, both formally and informally.
The story: On the afternoon of Jan. 22, barely 48 hours into his presidency, Donald Trump entered the State Dining Room at the White House, where he presided over the formal swearing-in of members of his senior staff, a public tradition that has been carried out by every president in recent memory.
But just as Trump ran a gleefully unorthodox campaign for the presidency, the ceremony was a reminder of how truly untraditional his White House is likely to be.
The players: Front and center among Trump’s incoming staff was Jared Kushner, the New York businessman’s 35-year-old son-in-law who was said by many to have been the true manager of Trump’s insurgent campaign for the presidency. Kushner, who is married to Trump’s oldest daughter, Ivanka, now takes on an official role in the West Wing, working as a senior adviser to his father-in-law — the most high-profile family member to formally serve a president since John F. Kennedy appointed his brother Robert F. Kennedy to be his attorney general back in the 1960s.
Kushner, who will not take a salary, is expected to have a wide-ranging portfolio in his father-in-law’s administration, perhaps the most important being someone who has Trump’s ear on virtually every issue. But that also comes with Trump’s heavy expectations. Giving a shout-out to Kushner before supporters at a pre-inaugural ball last week, Trump told him, “’If you can’t produce peace in the Middle East, nobody can.” Trump’s lofty declaration stunned many in Washington, given that Kushner has no experience in public policy or diplomacy. But it was classic Trump, a man who has relied heavily on family, both in business and in politics, and who will continue that close relationship in potentially unprecedented ways as he navigates what many anticipate will be an unconventional presidency.
Though she sat in the audience at Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony watching her husband and father, Ivanka Trump is also poised to play some role in the new White House — though it’s still not clear what it will be. Earlier this month, she said through a spokeswoman that she had no plans to take an official White House job, with an office or a salary.
But Ivanka, who took a formal leave of absence from the Trump Organization as well as her fashion and accessories label earlier this month, is already having behind-the-scenes influence in her father’s presidency. She was said to have been behind the hiring of Dina Powell, who worked as a foreign policy advisor in George W. Bush’s White House, to advise Trump on women’s issues. And she was also credited with some of her father’s attempts to open lines of communication with critics, including former Vice President Al Gore who recently came to Trump Tower thinking he was there to see Ivanka, only to also get an audience with the new president on climate change and other environmental issues.
Ivanka repeatedly rejected claims that she was a key political adviser to her father during the campaign, insisting she was just “a daughter.” But she championed issues like improved child care and family leave policies and has made moves in recent weeks indicating she will continue to do so. In December, she and Trump transition staff members reportedly began reaching out to members of Congress on child-care issues.
Just days before she moved to Washington, Ivanka met privately with dozens of high-profile female executives and media personalities at a dinner hosted by her friend Wendi Deng, the ex-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. She told attendees she was on a listening tour to figure out how she could best make a difference in her father’s administration.
Whether it is official or unofficial, Ivanka’s expected policy role is unprecedented for a first daughter, comparable only to a role traditionally played by a first lady — which has added some intrigue to her position in the White House. First Lady Melania Trump, who was a reluctant figure in her husband’s presidential campaign, is expected to stay in New York at least until late spring, according to administration officials, allowing the couple’s 10-year-old son, Barron, to finish out the school year.
That schedule makes it unclear if the new first lady will embrace duties usually overseen by her office, including the organization of state dinners and other social efforts. There has been speculation that Ivanka Trump would step into that role — though Trump officials have repeatedly denied she will serve as an unofficial first lady of the White House. But some wonder if Ivanka will have any choice. Among the positions that have not yet been filled in the administration are the first lady’s chief of staff and the White House social secretary, who usually helps organize traditional events like the upcoming Easter egg roll on the South Lawn and dozens of other annual events on the White House calendar, including a congressional picnic and a dinner honoring the nation’s governors.
Trump’s oldest sons, Don Jr. and Eric, have been tapped to oversee the family business while their father serves in the White House. Under an agreement unveiled by the new president earlier this month — and one that is the subject of a lawsuit filed this week — Trump has stepped aside from his business holdings and insists he will not talk business with his sons. But many close to the family say it’s impossible to imagine they won’t remain close advisers to their father, as they were during the campaign.
Unofficially, the Trump kids may also serve another important role. In the hours and days after Trump was sworn in as the nation’s 45th president, Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric, as well as Eric’s wife, Lara, all began posting candid photos of the family’s arrival at the White House to social media, including photos from inside the rarely seen family residence and video of them trying out the bowling alley.
For a White House that has yet to hire an official photographer, the Trump kids may be the public’s only candid view of their father’s life in the White House.
