It’s typical for friends and family of the accused to attend “criminal trials to lend moral support to the suspect, and humanize the defendant to the jury,” as the Daily Beast noted. During his hush-money trial, Donald Trump has had no shortage of support from people in the former category — if you can call sycophants like Speaker Mike Johnson; representatives Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz; a host of people on Trump’s VP shortlist; and Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy Giuliani, “friends.” But mustering close family members proved to be a bigger challenge for the former president. While three of Trump’s five children eventually put in an appearance at the Manhattan criminal courthouse, as the jury began deliberations on Wednesday, Ivanka Trump and Melania Trump were still no-shows.
Eric Trump was the “only one of the ex-president’s children who has been regularly present during the trial,” as Forbes reported. He was sometimes joined by his wife, Lara Trump, who recently became co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Don Jr. has been recovering from knee surgery, so he’s had a good excuse for not appearing in court. But he still posted frequent social-media laments about the trial and managed to make it to court twice, once last week and again on Tuesday for closing arguments. After his second appearance, he made an impassioned speech outside the courthouse, claiming his father is the victim of a “witch hunt”:
Eric, Lara, and Don Jr. were joined on Tuesday by Tiffany Trump, along with her husband, Michael Boulos. But rather than creating an image of a unified Trump clan, the appearance of Donald Trump’s rarely seen youngest daughter only drew attention to who was absent. A reporter actually shouted “Where’s Melania?” as Trump headed into court in front of his children.
The answer is “wherever Melania was when she shunned all of Trump’s other court appearances.” While the former First Lady has appeared at a few private fundraisers in recent months, she has skipped all of her husband’s public political events and court appearances for more than a year. (Their son, Barron, who just graduated from high school, has never played an active role in his father’s political career.) Melania’s Truth Social page is devoted exclusively to anodyne holiday greetings and hawking ugly jewelry. The chances of her showing up at a trial that centers on her husband allegedly cheating on her with a porn star were always slim to none.
The same goes for Ivanka. At the start of the 2024 campaign, Trump’s daughter and former White House adviser announced: “I do not plan to be involved in politics. While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside the political arena.” Ivanka didn’t even bother to keep a low profile as her father’s criminal trial came to a close. This week, she posted photos and videos on Instagram showing her vacationing in Las Vegas with her family and catching an Adele concert with her 12-year-old daughter and some friends.
Donald Trump summed up the situation best when he declared outside the courthouse on Tuesday, “It’s a very sad day.” But you know what they say: Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes your wife and daughter publicly shun you instead.
