Tiffany Trump, the only child from Donald Trump's second wife, Marla Maples, has flown
under the radar for most of her life. She may have been overshadowed by her older siblings
at first, but all of that is starting to change as Tiffany continues to transform into a stunning
young woman.
The media largely sided with Donald Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump, after the press revealed
he was having an affair with TV personality Marla Maples. Later, their marriage and Tiffany's
birth became tabloid fodder. The scandal had a big impact on Tiffany's life, though she
was too young to know what was going on at the time. If it hadn't been for the scandal,
her parents might never have married, something the president himself admitted in a 1994 interview
with ABC Primetime Live.
"Beautiful girlfriend, beautiful wife, beautiful everything, I mean life was just a bowl of
cherries."
In a 2004 interview with Howard Stern, Donald said that he wasn't exactly thrilled when
his then-girlfriend became pregnant during their affair and that Tiffany had not been
planned. He told Stern,
"I'm glad it happened. I have a great little daughter...But, you know, at the time it was
like, 'Excuse me, what happened?' And then I said, 'Well, what are we going to do about
this?' [Marla] said, 'Are you serious? It's the most beautiful day of our lives.' I said,
'Oh, great.'"
Donald Trump and Marla Maples' marriage didn't start under the most ideal of circumstances,
so it wasn't too surprising when the two separated after four years of marriage and divorced
in 1999. Maples raised Tiffany as a single mother, and Tiffany said that she and her
mom were always close. She told People magazine,
"We were always together, driving me to school, carpooling, singing songs, dancing around,
me making fun of her dance moves."
Maples said that she did most of the parenting, and added,
"Her daddy is a good provider with education and such, but as far as time, it was just
me. Her father wasn't able to be there with day-to-day skills as a parent. He loves his
kids. There's no doubt. But everything was a bit of a negotiation."
Maples chose to remain single so that she could focus on raising her daughter, and she
also made sure to cultivate a relationship between Tiffany and her father. She explained,
"I just said it's important for her to form her own relationship with him, without my
input. I wanted to create some consistency where she could see him."
After the split, Maples moved herself and her young daughter across the country. Tiffany
told People magazine,
"She moved us out of New York to get out of the spotlight and let me grow up and find
my own identity versus being in the shadow of a name or growing up very young with all
that pressure. So, she wanted me to have a chance to have a normal childhood. As normal
as possible. I think that she did well in that."
Of course, Tiffany was still a Trump, so her life was far from ordinary. While she wasn't
in the spotlight as much as she would have been if she had grown up near her dad and
siblings in New York, she still traveled in affluent circles in California where she rubbed
shoulders with the rich and famous. Her mom was pals with Kris Jenner, and Tiffany went
to a private school.
She may have spent her early years out of the limelight, but Tiffany is a household
name these days, and not just because of her dad. She's transformed herself into something
of a social media maven and, as of August 2020, has more than 1.2 million followers
on Instagram.
Could the future see Tiffany emerge as the next big pop sensation? She released the single
"Like a Bird" in 2011 when she was just 17 years old. The song is pretty heavy on the
auto-tune, so it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. A friend of the family told The
New York Post that, around the time the single dropped,
"Tiffany kept saying how she was going to be a pop star."
But it seems her music career has been put on hold, perhaps because of the lukewarm reception
the track received.
She went on to say that her priority at the time was, quote, "focusing on school and getting
into a good college."
Since she grew up clear on the other side of the country, Tiffany didn't get a lot of
daddy-daughter time growing up. The media has been quick to point out the fact that
Donald Trump seems to talk about Ivanka Trump, his only other daughter, far more than he
talks about Tiffany. There are also a lot of rumors that Tiffany's relationship with
her dad is tense, but Tiffany swears he has always been in her corner. She told People,
"He was always just the most funniest, loving father."
For his part, Donald appears to be proud of his younger daughter. He told The New York
Times,
"Tiffany is a tremendous young woman with a big and beautiful heart. She was always
a great student and a very popular person no matter where she went. I am incredibly
proud of Tiffany and how well she has done."
"Tiffany is great, I love Tiffany."
There's no question that Tiffany and her dad are close today. She may not have been as
visible on the campaign trail as her sister, Ivanka, but she did turn up at the 2016 Republican
National Convention to give a speech in support of her dad Donald Trump's presidential bid.
She had just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania a couple months earlier, and
was, in her words, "new to the convention scene", but she still pulled off an impressive
speech honoring her father.
Tiffany talked about the qualities she thought would make her dad a good president, and also
described what a great father he had been to her, saying,
"He's always helped me be the best version of myself by encouragement and by example.
He motivates me to work my hardest and to always stay true to who I am and what I believe.
That's what he does: he draws out the talent and drive in people so that they can achieve
their full potential."
"That's a great quality to have in a father and better yet in the president of the United
States."
Tiffany has exhibited an affinity for fashion and even explored it as a potential career
with an internship at Vogue. Scoring an internship at the popular magazine is no easy feat. Fortunately,
she had a famous figure helping her out, but it wasn't her dad, Ivanka was the one who
helped Tiffany land the prestigious gig. According to the Daily Mail, the elder Trump daughter
said her little sister worked hard at her job. She gushed,
"She would go to work at 5:30am and even got to have lunch with Anna Wintour."
Like so many other things in Tiffany's life, the details of her internship haven't been
revealed, but it took place the summer she was 17, and her mother was thrilled about
her daughter's opportunity. Maples told Broadway.com,
"This is going to be a real adventure for her. I'm so excited for her."
There have been a lot of models in the Trump family. All of Trump's wives, Ivana Trump,
Marla Maples, and Melania Trump, have been models. Ivanka Trump also modeled for a short
time, and was formerly signed to Elite Model Management. For a time, it looked like Tiffany
might follow in the footsteps of her mom, stepmother, and older sister, but her stint
on the catwalk was brief. Early in 2016, the then-college student made her modeling debut
during New York Fashion Week.
Tiffany chose not to publicize the event, which may have been a sign that she was doing
the show for fun and wasn't choosing to make a career out of it. Her modeling was, however,
part of her official bio in 2016, where she was listed on the official Republican National
Convention website as:
"A fashion model, singer, and influential presence on social media."
"I love fashion design, I'm gonna be working for a designer this summer, so I'm just like
open to like learning things as like I'm still growing and maturing."
Whether or not rumors of a rivalry between the Trump siblings are true, it looks like
the girls are sticking together. They might not have grown up together, but that didn't
stop Tiffany and Ivanka from developing a special bond. Tiffany has called Ivanka her
"best friend" on Instagram, and Ivanka has always looked out for her little sis.
Helping her land that internship at Vogue would have already given her super big sister
status, but Ivanka has also gone to bat for Tiffany in the press and seems to be sincerely
proud of the younger Trump daughter. She told The New York Times in 2016,
"Tiffany has always been a very special person, very confident, very driven, always the hardest
worker and not bashful about it. A lot of people are happy to get by without doing a
lot of work, or work hard and pretend they don't. She is proud of her work."
Tiffany's older siblings are busy working for their dad in various ways. Donald Trump
Jr. is a trustee of the Trump Organization, as is his brother, Eric Trump. Eric also serves
as Executive Vice President of the organization. Ivanka Trump is an advisor to the president
and, according to her official White House bio,
"[Ivanka] focuses on the education and economic empowerment of women and their families as
well as job creation and economic growth through workforce development, skills training and
entrepreneurship."
Before her dad was elected to office, Ivanka also worked for the Trump Organization, overseeing
development and acquisitions.
While Tiffany has said she would one day like to follow her brothers and sister into the
family business, she wants to bring something different to the table. The younger Trump
daughter entered her first year at Georgetown Law in 2017. In May 2020, Tiffany graduated
from law school. On Instagram, she reportedly wrote,
"Congratulations to my fellow Georgetown Law's Class of 2020! We did it!"
While Tiffany is publicly supportive of her dad, many people think that she might have
some liberal leanings. In 2017, she showed up to President Donald Trump's inauguration
with her then-boyfriend, a registered Democrat. While the two have since split up, Tiffany
has appeared to quietly oppose some of her father's political stances.
In 2018, Newsweek reported that she publicly celebrated LGBT Pride Month with her friends,
despite the fact that her father has ignored observing the month throughout his presidency.
According to Business Insider, the younger Trump daughter has also showed support for
gun control, liking anti-gun posts on Instagram, including one anti-Republican picture of a
man holding a sign that read,
"Next massacre will be the GOP in the midterm elections."
In February 2019, Tiffany again stirred up speculation about her political leanings when
she wore white to the State of the Union address. One congressional correspondent for The New
York Times said,
"Most of the Democratic women of the House...are dressed in head to toe white tonight in homage
to the women's suffrage movement to spotlight issues like reproductive rights and equal
pay."
So, could Tiffany's white outfit have been a political statement?
Tiffany has gone from living life under the radar to constantly being in the spotlight.
Being a celebrity is going to come with significant criticism no matter who your dad is, but the
negative comments are bound to be more intense when you are the daughter of a famous businessman
who just so happens to also be the president of the United States.
While she knows that a lot of her dad's detractors also have some pretty mean things to say about
her, she's avoiding the hostility as much as possible and, rather than letting it get
her down, is focusing on her education and her future.
When things really get tough, Tiffany is able to turn to her mom for support and advice
to deal with the haters. Maples spoke to CNN about the coping strategy she and her daughter
use to deal with negative comments, saying,
"You can't [pay attention to it]...Every now and then we'll see it and it's painful. We
just have to talk each other through it and keep focus on what you're giving in the world.
That's all you can focus on."
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