Kim Kardashian is continuing her project of trying to make the general public forget that Ivanka Trump was “complicit” in her father’s controversial presidency by appearing in photos of the two looking like the best of friends as they together attended Justin Timberlake’s invite-only show Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
“Ladies night in LA!” Ivanka Trump captioned an Instagram Story photo of her and Kardashian in slinky, mostly black gowns at the grand opening for the Fontainebleau, a resort and casino on the Las Vegas strip, where Timberlake performed. On her Instagram Story, Kardashian also shared a photo that Donald Trump’s former senior White House adviser captioned: “It’s always a great time with you @kimkardashian!”
In addition, the Daily Mail published photos showing Ivanka Trump sitting with Kardashian and her sister, supermodel Kendall Jenner, as they applaud for Timberlake’s performance.
For some reason, Kardashian seems insistent on rehabilitating Ivanka Trump’s public image, given that the reality TV star also made a show of inviting Ivanka to her 43rd birthday party in October. She furthermore made sure that the shunned former socialite was photographed with her and Lauren Sanchez, the fiancée of Jeff Bezos.
It’s hard to know why Kardashian thinks Ivanka Trump deserves to be welcomed back into A-list society. As the New York Times said, her reputation as a popular public figure and reality TV star was “destroyed” over the course of two presidential campaigns for her father and the four years she worked for him in his White House. Trump’s term ended with the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during which Ivanka Trump described the rioters as “American Patriots” in a since-deleted tweet.
In texts released by the Jan. 6 Committee, Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director, wrote to another aide about Ivanka Trump’s predicament, the New York Times said. Using an expletive, Hicks wondered if Ivanka Trump knew how badly she was personally damaged by the events of the day.
After leaving Washington, D.C., Ivanka Trump knew that she and her husband, Jared Kushner, would not be welcomed back into politically liberal New York high-society. They relocated to Miami, where Ivanka Trump has appeared to stay busy raising their three children and turning up at society and fashion events — from Art Basel in her new hometown to chatting with Prince William at the wedding of Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein in the spring.
Kardashian’s recent birthday party in politically liberal California “serves as a reminder that the rich and powerful are never fully exiled, never beyond repair,” the New York Times said. “And for the politically reviled and reputationally ruined, there’s always some path back with enough time, money and influence.” The New York Times also quoted Tina Brown, the former editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, who said: “The rich are never rejected — until they go to prison or lose their money.”
Us Weekly reported that Kardashian and Ivanka Trump have been friends for more than a decade, after initially bonding “at the Met Gala over motherhood and being new moms.” When Trump was president, Kardashian and his daughter also connected over the issue of criminal justice reform. After aspiring attorney Kardashian decided to advocate for Alice Marie Johnson, a grandmother serving a life sentence at an Alabama prison for a nonviolent drug offense, she called Ivanka, her friend in the White House. Ivanka Trump’s father went on to commute Johnson’s sentence.
Perhaps Kardashian believes Ivanka Trump should become palatable again because she claimed that she was done with politics and would not participate in her father’s 2024 campaign for president.
Publicly, Ivanka Trump has appeared to distance herself from her father. But there are indications that, behind the scenes, the former first daughter backs her father’s attempts to return to the White House, especially if she and Kushner believe there could be prominent roles for them in the next administration, Vanity Fair reported in August.
Trump advisers told Vanity Fair that Ivanka Trump and Kushner had been more visible lately in Trump campaign circles, stoking speculation that the pair were gearing up to take an active role in his 2024 campaign. Over the summer, Ivanka Trump and her husband were guests at an elite MAGA event hosted by her father: the private screening of the child-trafficking movie “Sound of Freedom” at Bedminster. There, they mingled with the film’s QAnon-promoting star, Jim Caviezel, and such MAGA stars as former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and newscaster-turned-election denier Kari Lake. The couple also were said to pop into Trump campaign meetings to say hello.
Sources told Vanity Fair that there is only one reason that the couple would be so engaged in such events, and it’s not entirely due to family loyalty. Trump is the leading contender to receive the Republican presidential nomination, and he’s leading in some recent polls to win a rematch against Joe Biden. A report by Axis last week said that Kushner might not get involved in the presidential campaign but he could well return to the White House if his father-in-law wins again, with a continued interest in Middle East policy.
