US: Will Donald Trump establish a political dynasty?

US: “Dedicated to all that MAGA stands for.”
Back in February of this year, Donald Trump characterized his daughter-in-law in that way when he backed her to head the Republican National Committee (RNC).

After a shocking election victory that saw him beat Kamala Harris and Republicans take control of the House and Senate, Trump is now getting ready to return to power nine months later. The president-elect’s third child, Eric Trump, is married to Lara Trump, who has received a lot of acclaim for helping the GOP win the trifecta for the first time since 2018.

Republican communications expert T.J. McCormack said that Lara Trump may be the greatest “underrated political success story” of the previous several years.

“The job of the RNC leadership is to recruit the best and brightest candidates, support and shepherd their campaigns and—drumroll—win the presidency and both houses of Congress,” McCormack said to Newsweek. “So, on a pragmatic, definitive basis alone, Lara Trump has done her job with flying colors.”

With clamor growing among Republicans for Lara Trump to succeed Marco Rubio as Senator for Florida—a position she has shown interest in—this achievement is already generating conjecture that she is headed for an even more significant political position.

“I have not heard from Governor DeSantis yet, but I would give it careful thought if I were asked to do this. So we’ll see,” Trump said to Maria Bartiromo of Fox News.

Trump has maintained tight ties to his family throughout his career in both politics and business. There is a possibility that a Trump political dynasty may emerge and one of his family members would run for government in the future, even if vice president-elect JD Vance will be considered Trump’s obvious successor in 2028.

Although Trump is obviously “grooming” his family members to be his successors, political analysts warned Newsweek that any Trump who seeks public office may find it challenging to succeed the patriarch.

The Career of Lara Trump Thus Far

Born Lara Yunaska, Lara Trump graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in communications. According to The New York Times, she later worked as a waiter and a bartender before relocating to New York to enroll at the French Culinary Institute.

According to a 2016 WWD article, she had worked at her husband Eric Trump’s charity and as a personal trainer.
In 2017, the Associated Press reported that she was employed as a liaison and senior consultant for the digital company Giles-Parscale, which was working on Trump’s 2020 campaign.
In March, she was appointed co-chair of the RNC.

Trump’s Lara and the Republicans

Lara Trump and chairman Michael Whatley combined the Trump campaign and the party into one entity after taking over at the RNC.

She managed an increase in RNC fundraising, which increased from $10.6 million in February to $76 million in April and $65.6 million in March.

She said earlier this year that the RNC will allocate “massive resources” to its “election integrity” campaign, which has already resulted in the filing of several lawsuits pertaining to elections.

According to Time magazine, she was also instrumental in getting Trump to change his stance on mail-in voting. During the 2020 campaign, Donald Trump and his followers often denounced the technique as being riddled with

fraud; nevertheless, this year, he urged his supporters to vote by mail.

Lara Trump and Donald Trump’s Relationship

One of Donald Trump’s most outspoken supporters, Lara Trump served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee and was undoubtedly his largest donor during his successful run for reelection.

“He’s a lion. Three days after surviving an assassination attempt, she said in a primetime address at the Republican National Convention on July 16 that “he is bold, he is strong, he is fearless, and he is exactly what this country needs right now.”

She also revealed the more affectionate side of Trump, calling him a loving grandpa to his second-eldest son and the two children she has with husband Eric Trump.

She made reference to his hush money conviction in New York when she remarked, “I’ll never forget watching my two children run up to him with their drawings and hugs for grandpa just moments before he took the elevator down in Trump Tower to address the media the day after his wrongful conviction.”

“Despite everything else he had going on, he had no other focus in the entire world, just a man relishing time with his grandchildren.”

Lara Trump, 42, was chosen for the position by Donald Trump, who has long had members of his own family act as his closest advisors, as he attempted to seize control of the Republican machinery.

She has now emerged as one of the Trump family’s most vocal supporters in the press. In May, she told The Associated Press that “making sure Donald Trump is the 47th president” was her top mission, which she accomplished.

Is Lara Trump Planning to Run for Office?

According to Barbara Perry, a professor at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program, Trump is “grooming” his family members to continue his political legacy beyond his second term.

“Trump may eventually depart center stage, but Trumpism will not,” she said. “In any case, he is grooming Lara and I think Don Jr., then Barron, to carry on the family’s political ambitions, just as Donald inherited his father’s real estate business,” she said in Newsweek.

According to GOP strategist Mike Madrid, who is also a co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump Republican group, Trump’s election victory put his daughter-in-law in a very strong position. He told Newsweek, “She definitely seems to want the role more than the others.”

Northeastern University political science professor Costas Panagopoulos says he does not believe another Trump could achieve the same level of success.

“It’s conceivable the Trump family could emerge as America’s next political dynasty, but I’m not convinced anyone else can replicate Donald Trump’s unique style or appeal to die-hard supporters,” Panagopoulos said to Newsweek.

“They may have just broke the mold after they made him.”

The Political Aspirations of the Trump Family

According to reports, Ivanka Trump once dreamed of being the nation’s first female president.
She served as a well-known campaign surrogate for her father’s first two presidential campaigns and, with her husband Jared Kushner, served as a key advisor throughout his first administration. However, two years prior to Trump declaring his third bid for the presidency, she said she would be leaving politics.

“I have a deep affection for my father. This time, I’m going to put my young kids and the private life we’re building as a family first. She said, “I don’t intend to get involved in politics.”

Other members of the Trump family, however, seem to be interested in politics.

Despite having no political experience beyond his participation in his father’s presidential campaigns, Eric Trump, executive vice president of The Trump Organization, hinted in July that he may run for president in 2032.

Donald Trump Jr. has become a powerful figure in Republican politics, apparently persuading his father to choose Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running partner, however it is unclear whether he intends to run for government.

In July, 18-year-old Barron, Trump’s youngest son, attended one of his father’s rallies for the first time. He has been credited with helping his father implement a ground-breaking digital strategy this year by persuading him to collaborate with streamers and podcasters in order to attract a younger audience.

Is Another Political Dynasty What America Wants?

The United States has a long history of political dynasties.
Perry, the author of many books on the Kennedy family and novels about former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, says they are hard to preserve.

“Multiple generations seem to dilute the talent, intellect, and magic that lands candidates in high positions, much less the Oval Office: the Tafts, Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Bushes are the most recent examples of families that reached the pinnacle and then petered out in politics,” she said.

“While Americans have been drawn to political dynasties since the Founding (Adamses, Harrisons, Roosevelts, Tafts, Kennedys, Bushes), they eventually grow tired of them,” she said.

After that, they discuss the “next shiny object in politics,” pointing out that before winning the presidency in 2016, Trump had no previous military, political, or administrative experience.

“Modern media have utterly reshaped how individuals rise to prominence and win public office,” stated Perry. “Who knows who the next family to grasp for the brass ring will be.”