President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump said she was stepping back from politics after her father’s first term, but now she may be back to help plan a potential UFC fight at the White House next year.
UFC CEO Dana White told “CBS Mornings” he discussed the event in an Aug. 11 call with the president, who said he wanted Ivanka involved in the planning.
“So Ivanka reached out to me, and her and I started talking about the possibilities, where it would be and, you know, I put together all the renderings,” he said on CBS.
The White House did not comment on Ivanka Trump’s role in the event, and her representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ivanka Trump was heavily involved in Donald Trump’s first term as an adviser. But when the now-president announced his third campaign, she said she was stepping back from politics. Since Donald Trump has returned to office, sports has become part of his politics with appearances at several sporting events, professional athletes on a presidential council and, of course, his love for golf.
More: Which Trump presidential events did Melania, Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany and Barron attend?
Ivanka Trump was a senior adviser under 45th president
Ivanka Trump was a senior adviser to the president during his first term, frequently appearing at his side. By the end of his term, she was under attack for taking on something of an unofficial diplomat role in key foreign trips. Her husband Jared Kushner was also a senior adviser to the president.
Ivanka Trump is the eldest of the president’s two daughters. Her mother was Donald Trump’s first wife Ivana, who passed away in 2022. Her two brothers also by Ivana are Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who are managing the Trump Organization. Before her father went to the White House for the first time, Ivanka Trump was also an executive vice president at the Trump Organization.
When her father announced his re-election campaign in 2022, she posted on Instagram to say that, while she loved her father, she was prioritizing her three young children this time around. In those years when the 45th president was somewhat of a political pariah, Ivanka Trump was called to testify before the House committe investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and in the New York civil fraud case.
“Politics is – it’s a pretty dark world. There’s a lot of darkness, a lot of negativity, and it’s just really at odds with what feels good for me as a human being,” she said on the “Lex Fridman Podcast” in July 2022, according to CNN. “And, you know, it’s a really rough business. So for me and my family, it feels right to not participate.”
Ivanka has still made some appearances during second term
While she may be out of the spotlight in Donald Trump’s second term, Ivanka Trump has not been completely absent from her father’s return to power. In fact, she attended a UFC fight with her father in Newark in June and one in Miami this summer, and photographs show her talking with White alongside the president at the Jersey match. Here are some other appearances Ivanka Trump has made since her father returned to the White House:
Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner attended the Inauguration along with the other Trump siblings.
Her father-in-law, Charles Kushner, was the president’s pick for the U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco, and Ivanka Trump attended his swearing-in at the Oval Office in June.
The same day as Charles Kushner’s swearing-in, Ivanka Trump attended a ceremony for the 88-foot flagpoles Trump had installed at the White House.
She was also at Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress in March, along with her husband, sister Tiffany Trump and brothers Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
In another sports outing, Ivanka Trump also joined the president as he made history as the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl in February 2025.
Contributing: Jennifer Sangalang, Michael Collins, Saman Shafiq, Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY Network
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What did Ivanka Trump do under 47th president? She may plan UFC event
