There’s an inherent problem with nepotism. It is a great ride to the top and at that highest perch, one can see a long way, a lot of possibilities. But if the parent spirals down, the hangers-on fall faster, hit harder, and have a much harder time getting up. When we talk Trump kids, we’re talking about the only three that ever really mattered to Trump, the ones that came from his marriage to Ivana, perhaps the only woman he ever seemed to maybe love, for a while, just a little. We don’t know or care.

But we’re talking about Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric.

Don Jr. might do okay. In fact, he and “Lap Dance for top money” Kimberly Guilfoyle might be making plans for a hostile takeover of the RNC. If and when they try, the RNC has to take a good long look at itself and ask, do we just call it now, end the pretense of independence and call it the Trump party? We don’t know the odds of them gaining the position, never thought we’d care. It seems clear they couldn’t be “co-chairs,” Kimberly could be gone in less time than it takes to do a lap dance, at any point. Don Jr. just seems that way. Junior would be head of the RNC … and its fundraising ability.

Junior has also always been the one closest to the MAGA center id. He seemed to hit the sweet spot in MAGA culture, and it’s an open question as to how he did it. Pretending to love guns and pictures is flannel shirts help. Still, if his father’s fame fades – as it very well might when some hard truths start hitting the media – Junior could be headed for an even greater fall, a resignation and an attempt to keep himself free, never mind relevant. Junior has a struggle ahead of him.

But there are bigger struggles ahead, for one Ivanka Trump, who used to be a princess and now seems a little … old and exposed as her real self, which was never the plan. According to the Daily Beast:

But unlike some other Ivanka story genres, this is the type of piece the queen of narrative-shaping is clearly not able to shape. CNN ran a piece calling the pair a “once-golden power couple” and “a senior Republican” told CNN, “Wait until they realize no one is taking their calls.” Then The New York Times’ Ginia Bellafante wrote a piece headlined, “Will Manhattan’s Elite Really Spurn Ivanka and Jared (and Their Money?),” which ultimately made the point that if Ivanka is rich enough she can probably come back to New York City. Whether or not this assessment is true (it probably is), it speaks to the fact that Ivanka is no longer controlling the narrative about herself.

If no one is taking her calls, then how does she end up doing anything? She relies on being the princess, the socialite, the “good one,” the “moderating one,” and if she’s none of that, she’s just another mid-level wealthy person in Manhattan. The article states that IF she has enough money, she’ll probably get by as the prominent socialite she was born to be. But one thing we’ve learned about Trump’s, there’s not as much money around as they wanted people to think.

The article doesn’t go into Jared and his issues, but Jared may be the most Fukt of all them (and that will take Ivanka down with him). Jared was inside, Jared wasn’t supposed to have access to shit. Jared made regular “WhatsApp” exchanges with MBS and got his building refinanced, all for what?. If nothing else, Jared will forever be remembered as the “Blue State Covid” guy. The one that saw a political advantage in letting blue staters die and putting it on the governors, while “Trump Country” remained relatively safe. There seems little doubt that Jared has the biggest problems of all. His problem isn’t remaining relevant, it’s remaining too relevant – part of the story.

Eric? What about Eric? What was relevant about Eric during the Trump presidency? Eric confined himself to doing more to actually run the Trump organization (under Dad, for sure) and appearing on Fox and Friends than the others. He’s definitely the dumbest – strangely, though, that might end up helping him. His idiocy might have kept him out of the most trouble. But Eric might eventually become less relevant than his wife, who is talking about a Senate run in her home state of North Carolina. Watch out Eric, Lara may keep the last name, but maybe not Eric. Try to imagine how little daddy Donald Trump cares.

So there you have it, the ones that lost the most during the election. They did have it all for three to four years, once things settled in. For a moment, they were semi-important, some more than others. Ivanka and Jared vastly more so than the other two. Which only means they might fall the hardest.

Nepotism is a cool ride to the top and as one reaches the highest high, it can be spectacular. But just like a roller coaster starting to point down, it’s probably best to hang on tight because life is going to throw things at them very fast and the track will be unpredictable. It will be almost impossible to see far ahead and they may even find themselves upside down. It’s all part of the ride.

****

Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak