White House divided due to the feud between two Trump ladies; Know the nickname Melania has for Ivanka
If it’s not the catfight between two Trump ladies!
The long-standing feud between the White House ladies, particularly First Lady Melania Trump and her stepdaughter, Ivanka Trump, has been simmering since the Trump family’s White House years during US President Donald Trump’s first term in office. Right now, in Trump’s second term, the rivalry has reportedly only strengthened with time.
The ‘strained’ relationship:
The relationship between Melania, the stepmother and Ivanka, the stepdaughter, is said to have been far from harmonious over the 20 years since Melania, then just 34, married Trump in 2005, with Ivanka only 11 years her junior at 23.
Over the decades, tensions are reported to have persisted and even escalated as Trump transitioned from property tycoon and reality TV star to entering the political arena and winning the 2016 presidential election.
Power struggle:
Despite being notoriously private during her tenure as First Lady, it was well-known that Melania chose to spend much of her time away from the White House, opting instead to stay in New York while then 10-year-old Barron finished the school year.
When US president Donald Trump took office in 2016 and moved into the White House, according to Daily Mail, the tension between his daughter and wife because of a power struggle came into focus. Daily Mail reported, citing insiders, that both fought over everything from office space to foreign trips and even certain policy issues.
While Melania didn’t arrive in Washington until the summer of 2017, according to the report, Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, had already relocated her own family to Washington and had reportedly taken on much of the First Lady’s traditional duties.
Not just that, during this period, as a source revealed to Daily Mail, it was reported that Ivanka even had pushed to have the Office of the First Lady renamed as the Office of the First Family. This idea infuriated Melania, and it reportedly caused a longstanding feud between the two of them.
The ‘catfight’:
The aforementioned source revealed that Melania had a special nickname for Ivanka during their reportedly strained relationship – “the princess.”
In her memoir, Melania opened up about being a stepparent, saying: “Melania acknowledged in her recent memoir: ‘My role is not to replace [her stepchildren’s] mothers but to nurture a supportive and amicable connection… it is essential to remember that each person is deserving of respect and understanding, regardless of disagreements.”
More cracks:
Melania and Ivanka’s relationship got so strained by 2018 that the then-White House chief of staff John Kelly was reportedly called in to mediate between the two women and their offices. Even though Ivanka has taken a step back from politics and is not part of Trump’s tent in his second term, tensions remain between Melania and Ivanka.
As per a source that told Daily Mail, “Ivanka will always be a thorn in her side.”
According to Daily Mail, the pair didn’t even interact during President Trump’s inauguration ceremony in 2025, even though they stood next to one another in the Capitol Rotunda.
Newer edges:
Ivanka has made it clear that she won’t be returning to the political spotlight for the current administration. However, by the looks of it, she’s still determined to play an important role in her father’s life, as per the report. In a recent podcast interview, she said, as quoted by Daily Mail, “I’m most looking forward to just being able to show up for him as a daughter and be there for him, to take his mind off things and watch a movie with him or watch a sports game, to know that he can be with me and be himself, and just relax.”
According to a Daily Mail insider, this could stir up some tension. A source said, as quoted in the report, “Melania is going be irritated because Ivanka is going to just show up at state dinners and stuff. That’s going to be the new battle.”
