At a grand banquet table in a red-carpeted Buckingham Palace ballroom, the Queen, a couple of princes, dukes and duchesses, and lords and ladies were intermixed with the Trump family: a President, a first lady, four of his five children, and two of their spouses.
Queen Elizabeth II formally invited just President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump to travel to London for an official State Banquet at Buckingham Palace. But the event became more of an extended family affair, with Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and his wife Lara, and Tiffany Trump all joining the exclusive party.
The President’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, was already set to attend in her capacity as a formal adviser to the President, and a senior member of his administration. Her husband, Jared Kushner, is also part of the United States delegation attending the ceremonial events.
In pictures: President Trump in Europe
For the President, bringing his adult children, in his view, is akin to showcasing his version of royalty. In an interview ahead of the trip with the British tabloid newspaper The Sun, Trump said he wanted Ivanka, Donald Jr., Eric and Tiffany to hold a “next generation” meeting with the Prince William and his wife, Kate, and Prince Harry.
“I think my children will be meeting them,” said Trump. “It would be nice.”
Though they mingled at the State Banquet, there were no plans for a sit-down meeting, a royal source told CNN International correspondent Max Foster. They did, however, join their father for his joint news conference with Prime Minister Theresa May, and later toured the Churchill War Rooms, according to their social media posts.
A family affair
Trump’s business has always been a family affair: He became a New York real estate magnate with the help of a loan from his father, Fred Trump, his then-wife Ivana Trump worked with him while they were married, and Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric all joined the Trump Organization when they came of age. But the family Trump is a far cry from the American political dynasties of the past – the Kennedys, the Bushes. Further, a vision of the President’s children as America’s equivalence to the Royal Family is at odds with everything Trump’s brand as a status quo disruptor.
Trump ran in the 2016 presidential race promising to “drain the swamp” and railing against political establishment at every turn, particularly his GOP primary rival Jeb Bush, the brother of one American president and son of another.
But since taking office, he elevated his daughter and son-in-law to two of the highest-ranking appointments inside the West Wing. He even suggested that she could hold public office herself after he leaves office.
“If she ever wanted to run for president,” the President said this year, “I think she’d be very, very hard to beat.”
But that his daughter hasn’t expressed any interest in running to him. For now, she continues her work on largely noncontroversial West Wing portfolio and style herself as a diplomat on the world stage. On Tuesday, she appeared alongside her father at a business roundtable and bilateral meetings with May as part of the official US delegation.
Separate lives
The full complement of Trump’s adult children, while present at the odd family event or holiday at Trump’s homes in Palm Beach and Bedminster, are a relatively scarce presence at the White House.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump live in New York City, where they assumed control of the family real estate business, though Don Jr. now spends a significant amount of time traveling the country to attend events, rallying and fundraising for the 2020 campaign season alongside girlfriend and campaign senior adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Tiffany Trump, the only child of Trump’s marriage to second wife, Marla Maples, is about to begin her third year at Georgetown University Law School in Washington where she lives off-campus in a downtown apartment. Tiffany has spent part of her summer break in Europe, attending swanky events in Cannes, France, during the fabled film festival, posting photos from a yacht anchored in the Mediterranean, and this week back in London, where her boyfriend is said to live.
Ivanka Trump was in town ahead of her father’s arrival, too, posting on her Instagram account a visit to the Albert & Victoria museum to see the sold-out Christian Dior exhibition. As a member of the delegation, she joined other high-level staffers on a Buckingham Palace balcony for the formal arrival ceremony as her father inspected British troops.
