In one of a growing number of recent Instagram photo dumps, Ivanka Trump has offered followers a nostalgic glimpse of her summer.
One image shows Ivanka in a tiny polka-dot dress, resting her head affectionately on the shoulder of her husband, Jared Kushner.
Another captures the lithe-limbed Ivanka in a swimsuit, perched in what appears to be a shallow pool at Iceland’s Blue Lagoon. In a separate shot, a muscular and bare-chested Jared emerges from a plunge pool.
The carousel also takes a more intellectual turn with a photograph of The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World, written by University of Oxford physicist and “father of quantum computing” David Deutsch.
There is also a close-up of Ivanka’s tanned knees as she sits beside a fire pit, along with pictures of the couple’s children: 15-year-old Arabella, 12-year-old Joseph and 10-year-old Theodore. A cactus garden makes a somewhat unexpected appearance, too.
The collection paints an idyllic picture. That has prompted some speculative observers to ask whether Ivanka—who turns 45 in October—may be trying a little too hard to show that she is enjoying life, nearly six years after leaving her White House role and amid unconfirmed reports that she is “bored.”
The scrutiny comes as Ivanka and Jared face backlash in Albania, where their proposed luxury resort has triggered protests dubbed the “flamingo revolution.” Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress continue to question Kushner over his business dealings in the Middle East.
But a friend of Ivanka’s says that interpretation misses the point. Rather than simply trying to project happiness, the friend suggests she is going through something more substantial—perhaps not a midlife crisis, but a midlife rethink.
The “art of living”: Ivanka Trump pictured at Iceland’s Blue Lagoon
Jared Kushner was also photographed stepping out of a cold plunge
Ivanka and Jared smiled during their summer trip to Iceland
Earlier this summer in Costa Rica, Ivanka enjoyed a surfing lesson
America watched Ivanka grow up from her parents’ tabloid divorce when she was nine, through being a teen model, to fame in the TV boardroom on Celebrity Apprentice and a string of glittering parties and famous friendships.
Now, as she approaches her 45th birthday next month, she is at a different stage in her life, one where she wants to maximize time with family.
In 2022, her mother Ivana died suddenly aged 73, and it has led her to reflect on the importance of similarly being there for her own children, the eldest of whom will be college-age in a few years.
Hence all the memory-making vacations jam-packed with activities like horse riding and surfing.
That, too, seems to be the reason for the widely noticed Instagram photo dumps, plus a flood of paparazzi pictures.
In Costa Rica, Ivanka, 44, was snapped surfing, with TMZ approvingly noting how she was ‘even throwing up a shaka at one point.’ It concluded that ‘Yes, surfing’s good for the soul.’
There were more glamorous pictures to come from Costa Rica, including of Ivanka on horseback on a beach with Arabella.
It all sparked whispers that Ivanka might be trying to up her public profile as part of a PR strategy, or could she perhaps even be contemplating a return to Washington? Not so, a friend tells Our News Outlet.
‘The key to understanding Ivanka’s Instagram is that she’s not posting photos in real time,’ the friend said. ‘Ivanka’s far more private and she’s just posting a periodic photo dump.’
The posts typically appear either before or after a trip, protecting her location.
If there is a message being sent, it appears to be one to her critics – that she has chosen a different life than politics and is enjoying it, thank you very much.
After her father’s first administration she was said to have concluded that politics is ‘vicious and toxic’ and, when he announced he was running again in 2024, she opted out.
The break from politics appears complete. Ivanka even steers away from watching the news on television. And, it seems, there are no regrets.
‘I think it’s very hard to leave Washington DC with all the power and responsibilities,’ says a friend. ‘But when you’re on the other side of it, you see how beautiful life can be as well.
‘She just wants to be there for her family. I think that’s very admirable.’
Ivanka and daughter Arabella enjoyed a horse ride on a beach in Costa Rica
Trump, who turns 45 next month, has shared an array of images from her summer travels
In recent months, she’s been posting Instagram photo dumps, which have widely been noticed
A representative for the Kushner family declined to comment to Our News Outlet.
While her father famously pursued the ‘art of the deal,’ Ivanka is said to be using her time to explore the ‘art of living.’
An extensive summer reading list, including books on history, philosophy and personal growth, offers the clearest window into where that is taking her.
After rereading Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck’s tale of Depression-era migrants, she wrote on Instagram: ‘Beneath its simplicity lies a profound meditation on loneliness, friendship and the fragility of human dreams.
‘It lingers because it asks difficult questions about compassion, power and what it means to be responsible for one another in a world that is often indifferent.’
Ivanka also reveals on Instagram that, each night before bed, she dips into A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living, about the work of the late mythologist.
Campbell’s most famous aphorism was ‘follow your bliss,’ which is based on a Sanskrit concept.
He said that it means ‘the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living,’ and urged readers to find meaning and purpose.
Also on Ivanka’s list was The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch, the University of Oxford physicist described as the ‘father of quantum computing.’
The popular science book details how the Enlightenment set off a chain of knowledge creation and explores theories of the multiverse.
She also liked Power vs. Force, a tome by David R Hawkins, the late psychiatrist, which explores human behavior, consciousness and ethics.
There was also James A Michener’s mammoth 1,136-page historical fiction novel Hawaii, and two other historical fiction novels by Kristin Hannah – The Four Winds about the Great Depression, and Winter Garden about the Siege of Leningrad – along with Ariel Lawhon’s The Frozen River, a thriller set in 18th Century Maine.
Kushner, 45, has presumably had less time for reading novels.
While he has no formal position in the administration, he remains an informal adviser and peace envoy for his father-in-law, working on the Iran, Ukraine and Gaza crises.
Last week, he and fellow envoy Steve Witkoff met for three hours with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, followed by a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Earlier this year, Kushner’s job meant he was not with the family on Father’s Day.
‘Jared couldn’t be with us,’ Ivanka wrote on Instagram. ‘But his absence was one born of purpose. And we felt his presence all the same.’
In Congress, Democrats on the House judiciary committee are currently pursuing Kushner to submit documents related to his double role advising the President on foreign policy while also running a private equity business that deals with foreign governments.
Friends told Our News Outlet that the first daughter wants to maximize her time with her children before they grow up
It is nearly six years since Ivanka was a senior official in her father’s White House
Ivanka’s summer reading list included a book on Joseph Campbell, the mythologist whose most famous advice is ‘follow your bliss’
Kushner met recently with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries as the White House explores ways to work across the aisle if Democrats take control of the House in the November midterms.
‘Jared is pursuing his passion, which is specifically about Israel, the Jewish people, and peace in the Middle East,’ a friend of Ivanka said.
‘It’s a job he really enjoyed in his first term that he gets to continue and he still gets to go home to his family in Miami.
‘Having a family that sustains you and having a job you can pop into – a job that you really want to do – and go back to a normal life is really important.’
However, the backlash against his adviser role is as nothing compared to the one that has greeted the plan to transform an Albanian island into a lavish resort.
Kushner’s Affinity Partners investment firm was given the green light to develop resorts on Sazan Island and the nearby Zvernec Peninsula, an untouched coastal wetland home to flamingos, seals and nesting sea turtles. Those protesting the development carried pink signs and inflatable birds.
‘It’s the only island we have. The authorities are just giving it away to the highest bidder,’ leading Albanian ecologist Joni Vorpsi told Our News Outlet recently.
The situation was inflamed after Ivanka gave a podcast interview in which she described how they found the island by swimming to it off a friend’s boat, and wanted to ‘transform it, but with a lot of restraint and care because the land is so beautiful.’
In the Albanian capital Tirana, thousands have taken to the streets chanting ‘Albania belongs to Albania.’
Last Tuesday, the 101st day of the demonstrations, police blocked protesters from reaching parliament as they pelted officers in riot gear with eggs and tomatoes.
Cars transporting lawmakers were confronted by the crowds and were hit with plastic water bottles.
Ivanka, some say, has been stung by the backlash but appears to have decided not to address it. Perhaps, if her years in the White House taught her anything, it’s to have a thick skin.
Not so, one familiar with her tells Our News Outlet: ‘She’s not stung by the criticism, it’s just the opposite. She’s invigorated and can’t wait to unveil the plans.
If there is a message being sent, it appears to be one to her critics – that she has chosen a different life than politics and is enjoying it
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump pictured together on a trip to Iceland
‘She recognizes that doing great things can be met with challenges, but you know people haven’t even seen the plan yet.’
As she plans for her late 40s, she and her family seem set to remain living in Miami where, after the 2020 election, they set up home in a $24 million waterfront pile on Indian Creek Island, known as the ‘Billionaire Bunker,’ with neighbors including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Tom Brady.
There, Ivanka has talked about being on her ‘own schedule’ and thrown herself into exercise, including yoga, Pilates and jiu-jitsu, and she works out four days a week.
She has co-founded a business that reduces food waste, starts most of her days with a swim in the ocean, along with meditation, makes breakfast for the family, drinks creatine fruit shakes and walks her dogs Simba, Winter and Aspen.
According to one well placed source: ‘She’s had a very active summer, working on Planet Harvest and her investing portfolio.’
Certainly, the venomous world of politics is firmly in the rearview mirror. Who wouldn’t be happy? Then again, who wouldn’t be wondering – just a little bit – what now?
