Once a senior adviser with a West Wing office and a broad portfolio, Ivanka Trump emerged for her first major public event of her father’s second term Thursday – this time, as a private citizen representing a private sector company.
The president’s eldest daughter traveled to Bentonville, Arkansas, where she was interviewed by Arianna Huffington for the Heartland Summit, an annual gathering of business, philanthropy and thought leaders spearheaded by the heirs to the Walmart fortune.
During her father’s first term, Trump championed women’s economic empowerment initiatives; now, she’s turned to a new business venture aimed at expanding access to fresh produce.
Trump touted Planet Harvest, a Chicago-based fresh produce company she co-founded two years ago – something, a source familiar with her thinking said, is “a passion of hers.”
Thursday’s appearance marked the first time she has spoken publicly during her father’s second term after making clear she has no plans to wade back into the political fray.
“Her participation in this is about regional private sector innovation,” the source said, as well as “supporting small farmers” and “strengthening access to fresh food and uplifting communities.”
Trump, who spent her entire adult life working for her father – from real estate to reality television to the West Wing – left Washington in January 2021 and said she did not plan to be involved in politics going forward. As her father telegraphed and ultimately mounted a bid for another term, Trump sought a relatively private life with her young family in Miami – outside of the public spotlight.
During her father’s first term, she faced constant scrutiny and criticism for decisions that she was unable to wholly influence or moderate. She was alienated by some liberal friends in her New York social circle, and she shut down a relatively successful eponymous clothing and accessories brand amid persistent ethics questions. Since departing from politics, she’s forged a new path with a definitively different lifestyle, one made possible as her family’s businesses have profited from proximity to the presidency and resulting relationships.
CNN reported in December that Trump remains very close with her father, with whom she talks regularly, a source close to her said.
Since her father returned to office, she has brought her family to the White House for inaugural festivities, attended Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress and brought her children back in April to celebrate the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl win.
But multiple friends told CNN late last year that she’s at peace with her decision to exit politics, and that she is prioritizing her family, attempting to find some privacy and pursuing new interests.
Since leaving politics, she has worked with victims of the Hawaii wildfires and North Carolina hurricanes, volunteered with Ukrainian refugees in Poland, and packed food boxes at a local kosher food bank.
But her new venture veers into the for-profit.
“We’re tapping into the ‘food is medicine’ space and creating value-added products,” the first source said.
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