The Transformation Of Ivanka Trump From 6 To 38 Years Old

Ivanka Trump has gladly admitted that, as the eldest daughter of Donald Trump and an heir to his literal and proverbial fortunes, she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. "I consider the position I'm in to be a great responsibility and one I intend to use wisely," she wrote in her 2017 memoir, Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success. More than perhaps any of the reality TV star-turned-POTUS' other children, Ivanka has followed in his footsteps: positioning herself throughout her adult life as a savvy real estate exec, an entrepreneur, and a tasteful celebrity, she stepped up when The Donald ran for president and joined him in his political ambitions. 

Whether her future holds another stint in the White House or a return to the world of business, this first daughter has spent her entire life in the public eye, and she's unlikely to stop any time soon. Let's take a look at the evolution of Ivanka Trump into one of America's most powerful personalities.

Seen here with Donald Trump in the early '90s, Ivanka Trump had plenty of attention lavished on her by her dad while growing up. As a 10-year-old, she would place collect calls to Donald's office at the Trump Organization, and would hear her father put her on speakerphone for his guests to observe. 

"It was colleagues, it was titans of industry, it was heads of countries," Ivanka told CNN in 2016. "He'd always tell everyone in the room how great a daughter I was and say cute things and ask me about a test I took." Looking back on her childhood, Ivanka recalled that her father "[wasn't] home every night for dinner," but still showed his love. "He wasn't always physically present," she added, "but he was always available." 

Ivanka Trump's teenage years were interrupted when she transferred from the all-girl Chapin School in New York City to the famously well-heeled Choate Rosemary Hall boarding school in Connecticut at the age of 15. Speaking to Spin in 1998, the then-teenage heiress hinted at her complicated on-campus reputation: "There's a deli near campus where I go sometimes, and one day, the owner says to me, 'Ivanka, can I ask you something? People in town are saying that you have a limo waiting for you at all times to pick you up and drive you to your classes. Is that true?'" 

Ivanka didn't speak highly of her Choate years in retrospect, telling Marie Claire in 2007, "I was all of a sudden in the prison of boarding-school life, and all my friends in New York were having fun." 

Ivanka Trump, seen here dressed in a Carolina Herrera gown during a 2002 photo shoot, attended the same college as her father, Donald Trump, and brother, Donald Trump Jr. In 2004, Ivanka graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's prestigious Wharton School of Business after transferring from Georgetown University before her junior year. 

Praising her educational experience in a 2009 Philadelphia magazine interview, Ivanka said, "Wharton helped me to quickly ease into the world I'm in ... It really just teaches you how to analyze and dissect problems." She also confessed to putting her real estate connections to use while in school, claiming with a laugh, "I did sell a few condos while I was at Wharton. To classmates who were looking, or their parents. Not in exchange for test scores. For checks."

Ivanka Trump had already joined the family business, working with her father and brothers as a vice-president at the Trump Organization, when she aligned herself even closer with dad Donald Trump by signing on to appear on The Apprentice in 2006. The reality competition show, which featured Donald booting contestants with his famous catchphrase, "You're fired," was a platform for Ivanka to champion the Trump Organization's goals.

"I've been asked to do all sorts of other shows — you know, stupid stuff — but ultimately they do nothing for the brand," Ivanka explained to GQ in 2007. "They do nothing to advance my ultimate goal of becoming a great developer." While Ivanka told the magazine that she had "no interest in being a television star," Ivanka would periodically appear on The Apprentice and its Celebrity Apprentice spin-off over the next decade. 

With a job at Trump Organization and an on-air role on The Apprentice, Ivanka Trump's career was already buzzing when she decided to branch out into the fashion world. Ivanka, seen here at the 2012 Met Gala, launched her jewelry collection in 2007, writing in her Women Who Work memoir, "Women were interested in buying jewelry for themselves — and were no longer waiting for a man to do it for them." 

Going on to launch her eponymous line of clothing and shoes in 2011 (which she eventually folded in 2018), Ivanka added, "I was really proud of the fact that my collections captured a femininity and a sense of fashion that working women hadn't been able to express even just a decade before."

When Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign in June 2015, Ivanka Trump notably took the stage to introduce him to the crowd. She would stay by her father's side until his eventual victory in 2016, frequently hitting the campaign trail, with Politico praising Ivanka as Donald's "most powerful surrogate." She also appeared in television ads aimed at mothers to pitch Donald's alleged support for working women.

Similarly, Ivanka served as a powerful voice, defending her father against his widely-criticized verbal attacks on women, including his war of the words with Megyn Kelly in 2015. "Look, my father is very blunt, he's very direct, he is not gender specific in his criticism of people," Ivanka claimed to CNN at the time of her dad's rhetoric surrounding Kelly. "So I don't think that he's gender-targeted at all."

When Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election in an upset over Hillary Clinton, Ivanka Trump was ready and willing to step into a national role, with all the sartorial power that position entailed. For her father's inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20, 2017, she drew praise for her winter-white ensemble during his outdoor swearing-in, wearing a white jacket and trousers by Oscar de la Renta, accessorized with an American flag pin. 

Per USA Today, Ivanka's choice of a white ensemble may have been a reference to the suffragette movement, with the first daughter's look "[packing] style and subliminal messaging, giving a nod to women and the push for equal rights." Ivanka's half-sister, Tiffany Trump (seen alongside Jared Kushner, Ivanka, and Melania Trump), also chose a white look for the ceremony. 

As a senior advisor to her father's administration, Ivanka Trump has enjoyed perks of her new life as a public official, seen above during her visit to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, which she attended on behalf of the Trump administration. To comply with ethics laws, Ivanka stepped down from her position with the Trump Organization in order to assume a role in the White House, with her husband Jared Kushner leaving his roles with Kushner Companies and The New York Observer in order to also accept an advisory role with the president. 

Their business decisions did not leave Ivanka and Jared financially struggling, however, as the couple reportedly "earned at least $36 million in outside income" in 2019, per The Washington Post.

Years into her White House tenure, Ivanka Trump maintained a powerful role while allegedly beginning to isolate herself. White House insiders cited by The Atlantic claimed that Ivanka entered a "bunker period" around the fall of 2017, participating less frequently in meetings and only involving herself in issues central to her passions for women and education. Of former chief of staff John Kelly's reaction to Ivanka, a source alleged, "He kind of walked in and looked at Ivanka like, 'What the f**k is Barbie doing in the West Wing?'" 

Meanwhile, Ivanka's own brother, Donald Trump Jr., told the outlet that Ivanka's role in the administration had affected her reputation among her wealthy friends. "She was loved by all the people in the world she wanted to be loved by," he said of Ivanka's rosy past. "I can't say she's not disappointed by them turning on her ... I just think I figured it out a little bit earlier than she did that people were going to see us differently after my father won."

The White House fate of Ivanka Trump remains unknown as Donald Trump's re-election battle against Joe Biden continues to rage on, as of this writing in 2020, leading up to Election Day in November. Speaking to Face the Nation the previous December, Ivanka cast doubt on whether she'd return to the Trump administration if her father won a second term, saying her "kids and their happiness" would determine her choice. "My decisions will always be flexible enough to ensure that their needs are being considered first and foremost," she explained. "So they will really drive that answer for me." 

Ivanka did indicate that her work with the administration remained "unfinished," however, saying, "We've done so much, but it's not enough yet."