Ivanka Trump looked as though she was on top of the world on Thursday morning, as she stepped out of her Washington, D.C. home with a wide smile on her face.
The mother-of-three was pictured leaving her home shortly after 8am, wearing a pretty pink dress with a floral pattern, along with a black pair of her trusty own-brand high heels.
Happily smiling for the cameras as she exited the home she shares with husband Jared Kushner, 36, and their three children, Ivanka, 35, appeared incredibly relaxed and carefree, having spent the past few mornings maintaining a low profile, avoiding photographers by leaving her house in a blacked-out SUV.
Happy: Ivanka Trump looked as though she was on top of the world on Thursday morning, as she stepped out of her Washington, D.C. home with a wide smile on her face
Sartorial: The mother-of-three was pictured leaving her home shortly after 8am, wearing a pretty pink dress with a floral pattern
Casual: Happily smiling for the cameras as she exited the home she shares with husband Jared Kushner and their three children, Ivanka, 35, appeared incredibly relaxed
On Wednesday night, hours before Ivanka exited her home in the flowery dress, the first daughter and her husband had dinner with Ted Cruz and his wife Heidi at Italian seafood restaurant Fiola Mare.
Their double date came the day after the Texas senator’s Twitter account liked a pornographic video on the social media platform. He later told CNN the like was the product of an ‘honest mistake’ by a staffer who now ‘feels terrible’.
The dinner was happening at the same time Trump had invited the top two Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to the White House.
Ivanka’s cheery disposition comes after she revealed in an interview that she will not ever publicly criticize her father, because she considers herself ‘part of the team’.
‘To voice dissent publicly would mean I’m not part of the team,’ the first daughter and top White House aide told the Financial Times. ‘When you’re part of a team, you’re part of a team.’
She added that she believes people had ‘unrealistic expectations’ regarding her influence over her father and his decision making, insisting that ‘my presence in and of itself’ would not ever cause President Trump to ‘abandon his core values’.
‘To those critics, shy of turning my father into a liberal, I’d be a failure to them,’ Ivanka added.
Back: The outing comes after Ivanka spent the past few mornings maintaining a low profile, avoiding photographers by leaving her house in a blacked-out SUV.
Accessories: Ivanka paired her flowy dress with a black pair of her trusty own-brand high heels
Keeping mum: The mother-of-three’s cheery disposition comes after she revealed in an interview that she will not ever publicly criticize her father
As President Trump entered office in January, Ivanka Trump, along with her husband Jared Kushner, also a White House aide, and Gary Cohn, the director of the National Economic Council, were considered moderating factors who could bring the president to a more central stance on issues, instead of to the far right.
However, some decisions Trump made tested Ivanka Trump’s clout, including his decision in June to pull out of the Paris climate accord.
‘Anything we thought a few months back about how she was going to be a moderating influence on Trump has not come to fruition,’ Douglas Brinkley, the presidential historian, told the Financial Times as part of its Ivanka Trump profile. ‘If she’s having a major policy influence, it’s really being done in a subterranean fashion, because there are no clear signs of it.’
In the interview with the Financial Times, Ivanka Trump said she hasn’t been socially punished by the liberal New Yorkers she grew up alongside.
Ivanka Trump said she and Jared ‘haven’t felt much of a chill in the liberal New York Circle they ran in before the campaign.’
Among Ivanka Trump’s New York City friends: former first daughter Chelsea Clinton.
According to Axios, who published this portion of the interview in its morning newsletter, Ivanka Trump and Kushner know that friends who might trash them anonymously in the paper won’t do it to their faces.
Axios also cited a source who said that they recalled only one instance which an acquaintance approached Ivanka Trump with ‘a less than positive response’.
Family: Her husband Jared was also pictured leaving the family house this morning, smiling as he stepped out in a suit and tie
Heading to work: Jared, like Ivanka,is a senior adviser to President Trump and has an office at the White House
Commemorating: Earlier this week, Ivanka and Jared attended a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House marking the September 11 attacks
Talking: Ivanka at one point leaned towards her husband and White House Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn prior to a moment of silence in remembrance of those lost in the attacks
Laying low: The first daughter shied away from the cameras for the past few mornings. She is pictured on Tuesday leaving her house in a Secret Service SUV
This morning, Ivanka’s husband Jared seemed to be in high spirits too.
He was also pictured leaving the family house, smiling as he stepped out in a suit and tie.
Both Ivanka and Jared are senior advisers to President Trump and have offices in the White House. Last week, her father told a crowd in Mandan, North Dakota, that his daughter had asked to tag along for the trip with the words: ‘Daddy, can I go with you?’
Some Republican leaders were ‘visibly annoyed’ by Ivanka’s presence that day, a source told CNN. But the first daughter appears determined to shut down critics.
‘Whether my contribution ultimately lives up to the expectations of some of the harshest critics? Only time will tell,’ Ivanka told the Financial Times. ‘But I will not be distracted by the noise.’