Posing in a sleek black minidress surrounded by a circle of strikingly glamorous women, Ivanka Trump appeared to be enjoying a night out with high-profile socialites. However, the reality reveals a more personal story: these were her childhood friends, a tight-knit group she has known for many years.
A Strategic Shift in Public Persona
The First Daughter, now 44, was captured in a series of Instagram photos from her belated birthday celebration in New York. While the images offer a glimpse into her social life, public relations experts told the Daily Mail they serve a deeper purpose. They could be a calculated move to distance herself from the White House and cultivate a more relaxed public image.
Jaycie Cooper, principal PR consultant at Cooper Communications, explained that Trump is using these pictures of long-standing friendships to remind people of her identity before her father, Donald Trump, entered the White House. "She's continuing to transition from the controlled, corporate image she had during her political years to a more lifestyle-focused persona," Cooper stated.
She added that this is a signal of a return to the fashion and lifestyle spaces where Ivanka originally built her brand, simultaneously creating distance from the political arena. Cooper emphasised that the change from formal workwear to fashion-forward choices is more about audience repositioning than a simple style evolution.
The Inner Circle Revealed
The carousel of pictures, shared on a Thursday, showed Ivanka looking effortlessly chic in a fitted strapless mini dress adorned with silver sparkles. She completed the look with black tights and stilettos, her long blonde hair flowing over her shoulders. Her friends, all in various dark shades, looked equally glamorous as they posed together on a rooftop in Midtown, New York.
Although her friends were tagged in the post, none maintain public social media profiles. The group appears to be a mix of friends from Florida, where Trump lives with her husband Jared Kushner and their three children, and New York.
The attendees included long-time pals Lindsay Powers Fox, Lindsay Smith, and Flo Fulton Miller, who have been spotted with Trump for years. Also present were Julie Shaffner Brawn, co-founder of the jewellery brand Alexandra Jules, and Tamara Goldstein, a noted childhood friend.
Speaking about their friendship to New York Magazine back in 2016 during Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Goldstein remarked, "We don't discuss [the politics]. I ask her about how she's doing amongst the chaos of the campaign and about her well-being, since that's what matters to me. Other than that, I don't get involved."
Building a Relatable Brand
Ryan McCormick, managing partner at Goldman McCormick PR, told the Daily Mail that Trump's online popularity has grown due to her ability to connect with people through her content. "She's already more relatable than other people," he said. "She talks about things that average people kind of go through, and I think that this post that she had with her friends is just another mark of that consistency."
On her actual birthday, October 30, the mother-of-three celebrated with an intimate lunch in Miami with friend Isabela Grutman, founder of sustainable clothing line RANGEL. Trump also posted a heartfelt message to social media, sharing 15 life lessons from the past year, including advice on overcoming 'pain'. This post included a family photo from her father's inauguration in January.
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives of Ivanka Trump for further comment.
