The Trump family tree: a who's who of the First Family

The Trump presidency is like a runaway clown car ­— careering between populist policies, swerving over the lanes of democratic norms, delighting at driving headlong into oncoming liberal traffic. Erratic showman at the wheel.

Few have clung on for the whole ride. Chiefs-of-staff (three of them), national security advisers (also three), press secretaries/communication directors (eight) have all left the vehicle. The generals who thought they could wrestle control of the wheel have all raised the white flag.

Even by the transient and transactional way Trump operates — he is a man seen as having confidants rather than enduring friendships — the turnover has been giddying. The churn rate of his “A Team” of senior level advisers stands at 91 per cent, as tracked by the Brooking Institution.

One notably steadfast passenger has been Vice-President Mike Pence. Though, as comedian Stephen Colbert quipped, Pence might not actually be riding up front: “He’s America’s spare tyre. You want him in the trunk, but you hope to never have to use him.”

Amid the ever-changing cast of co-travellers, one cohort’s berth has never been in doubt. The constant — from the moment the gilt escalator launched the spectacle on the road, to the current pile-up with unavoidable scientific truths — has been the Trump family. Not surprising for a man prone to paranoia, who prizes fealty, loyalty — and offsetting tax payments — above all else.

But as the campaign, if not the virus, rounds its final turn, will any of his adult children — and their partners — have done enough to help get Trump across the line again? Who have been the assets and liabilities on board? And, as a post-Trump road starts to come into possible focus, which of the children might be surprisingly placed to grab the wheel?

Donald Trump Jr and Kimberly Guilfoyle

Day jobs: Don Jr, 42, EVP at the Trump Organisation. Kimberly, 51, Trump campaign adviser.

Odds of being Republican nominee in 2024: Don Jr 16/1, Kimberley 66/1.

Campaign tweet of the week: Don Jr — “It’s time to vote… and dance! But mainly vote. Let’s go!”

Ivanka has long been considered as Donald Trump’s anointed one. “If she ever wanted to run for President I think she’d be very, very hard to beat”, the President told The Atlantic. But he did also note that, “Don is, uh, he’s enjoying politics; actually, it’s very good”.

The “actually” was very telling. And it speaks volumes to his personal — and political — metamorphosis. There’s a reason you can buy Don Jr ’24 T-shirts already. Trump’s eldest son entered into frontline politics and, seemingly, his father’s long-sought affections, by mishap. Having taken a requisite role in the family business, Don Jr seemed to conform to his father’s reported description as “not the sharpest knife in the drawer” — by helping to set up a meeting at Trump Tower between campaign officials and Russians claiming to have dirt on Hillary Clinton.

In the face of the inevitable outrage and inquiries, Don Jr came out swinging and seemed to morph into MAGA-man. A prolific liberal-baiting hero of the Right — now being deployed to headline events in swing states. The surrogate the President never knew he had.

Don Jr’s status is amplified through his relationship with former Fox News host and shouty convention speaker Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Are Don Jr and Kimberly helping Senior retain his job? There’s no doubt motivating the base — a forte of theirs — is crucial (for both parties). But for Trump to triumph again, he can’t merely win on his base alone.

Junior ’24 T-shirt anyone?

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner

Day jobs: Ivanka, 38, adviser to the President. Jared, 39, senior adviser to the President.

Odds (from Ladbrokes) of being Republican nominee in 2024: Ivanka 12/1, Jared 200/1.

Campaign tweet of the week: Ivanka — “The Trump Administration is the PEACE administration!!!”

In the early days of the administration, Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, were seen as the liberal guardrails to keep the President from veering too far towards the more red-meated cravings of his base. Indeed, Ivanka apparently wanted her father to clarify his 2015 campaign launch comments that Mexico was sending “rapists” to the US.

No such clarification came. Few signs followed that their Manhattan-made guardrails were anything more than mythical. Indeed, fast-forward more than five years and Jared and Ivanka are now threatening to sue over two giant billboards erected in the heart of Times Square: one features Ivanka next to the number of Covid deaths in New York and the country while, alongside, Jared is pictured next to a quote he is said to have made that “[New Yorkers] are going to suffer and that’s their problem”.

As the parade of defeated generals can attest, no one can seemingly steer Trump away from being Trump. Fawning, flattery and even hiding national security papers from him can only get you so far. But Ivanka and Jared still seem like the most accomplished Trump whisperers in the White House; able to offer trusted counsel while not pushing too hard lest it trips the temper.

But to what end? The Paris Accord was left, race has been baited, children separated, abortion rights further threatened, science sidelined during a pandemic.

Kushner takes credit for masterminding the 2016 upset — by harnessing a data-driven Silicon Valley-inspired approach. As de facto campaign manager for 2020 — with Trump behind in the polls and cash reserves — Kushner’s mercurial touch might seem to be fleeting. He has, however, given his father-in-law some campaign fodder: the normalisation of Israel’s ties with the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan have been an actual accomplishment to trumpet, while his criminal justice reforms gave Trump something to laud over Biden in the last debate.

The sheer brazen nepotism of Jared and Ivanka holding senior government roles — while mired in countless conflicts of interests — has, though, helped to take the sting out of what the Republicans were hoping would be their strongest attack: that Joe Biden has somehow benefited from his son Hunter’s business dealings. That doesn’t land so well when Jared and Ivanka earned up to $135 million in 2018 alone.

Ivanka, meanwhile, is being deployed on a frantic mission to win the suburban women who are deserting her father. Should that fail, she remains the bookies’ favourite to fill her father’s political shoes — for now.

Eric and Lara Trump

Day jobs: Eric, 36, running the Trump Organisation. Lara, 38, Trump webcast host and Trump adviser.

Campaign tweet of the week: Eric — “The polls are wrong!!!”

Odds of being Republican nominee in 2024: Eric 200/1, Lara 200/1.

With older brother becoming a galactico on the right-wing, Eric and his wife Lara have been turning in a solid performance in defence.

Hosting rallies in swing-ish states, campaigning at gun stores, testifying under oath about whether the family’s real estate business committed fraud, doctoring photos of Ice Cube, and proclaiming that his dad “literally saved Christianity”.

The duties of appearing to mock Joe Biden’s stutter and accusing him of being in “cognitive decline” were left to Lara.

Tiffany Trump

Day job: Tiffany, 27, law school graduate.

Campaign tweet of the week: “Good morning, Charlotte! I’m so excited to meet with young women in the area today to talk to them about my father…”

Odds of being Republican nominee in 2024: N/A as she won’t be old enough to qualify (which is 35).

Poor Tiffany is routinely ribbed as the runt of the Trumpian litter. SNL recently portrayed “her” as saying that: “No, daddy has always taken the six-foot social distance rule very seriously with me.” While also calling her Not-vanka.But, to be fair, she’s been going through the campaigning motions. “As a recent graduate, I can relate to so many of you who might be looking for a job,” she told the RNC. And she toed the family mask off/on line at the two debates.

At that second debate, while Ivanka, Lara and Melania were all clad in black, Tiffany “strayed a little out of line with a cream top-half”, Tatler howled.

It’s not clear if such sartorial subterfuge could cost Trump votes.

Oh, and should Donald Trump lose next week but seek to remain in the driving seat, his odds — at 6/1 — of being the 2024 nominee are way better than any of his children’s.

Tim Samuels is an award-winning documentary-maker, author and broadcaster. @TimSamuels