On the final night of the Republican National Convention, the presidential nominee is almost always introduced by his wife. Not Donald Trump. Before he formally accepts the Republican presidential nomination, the billionaire will be introduced not by his wife Melania —who has already made waves with her speech at the convention — but by his eldest daughter, Ivanka.
Ivanka has been a key adviser at her father’s side throughout his campaign. She introduced him when he announced his candidacy. She has travelled across the country to manage campaign headquarters and give speeches, while still working for the Trump Organization in New York City and being pregnant with her third child, who she gave birth to three months ago.
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Politico has described her as “the quiet power behind the Trump throne.” She may be he father’s closest advisor, but she is strikingly different from him. Ivanka Trump has been described as “a quiet but clear supporter,” “consistently cool and supremely well behaved,” “one of the most capable businesspeople” and “a very nice person.”
She seems to have worked to balance out her father’s brash impulses throughout the campaign, filling in gaps he’s missed. And, she is expected to fill one of those gaps tonight. Trump trails Hillary Clinton badly among women, a massive voting bloc he will need to win over to secure the presidency. Whenever asked whether her father respects women, Ivanka has responded with a resounding yes, once saying, “Well, clearly. Otherwise, I wouldn't be where I am.”
Here are 13 things you should know about Ivanka Trump before her speech tonight:
1. Born on Oct. 30, 1981, she is 34 years old.
2. She is the daughter of Ivana Trump, a skier and model from Czechoslovakia who was Donald Trump’s first wife. Donald and Ivana divorced in 1990.
3. Ivanka has two full siblings, Donald Jr. and Eric, and two half siblings, Tiffany and Barron.
4. She followed in her mother’s footsteps early on, modelling on the cover of Seventeen in 1997 and appearing in fashion shows and magazines for a few years. She says she never wanted a modelling career; it was only “an excuse to travel.”
5. She attended the Chapin School, an all-girls private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and Choate Rosemary Hall, a boarding school in Connecticut. After transferring from Georgetown University, she graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.
6. Both her parents saw a potential role for her in the Trump Organization from a young age. Her mother remembers her negotiating skills as a child, and her father wrote notes looking forward to working with her. She worked briefly for Forest City Enterprises before joining the Trump Organization in 2005.
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7. In 2009, Ivanka published The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life, a bestselling book about business, and she has appeared on The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice with her father.
8. She launched a jewelry line in 2007 and her clothing line a few years later. The Ivanka Trump Collection, her website says, is designed for modern professional women. Her brand is now dedicated to women who work.
9. Currently vice president of development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization, Ivanka was named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list of young business leaders in 2014. Her goal is to build Trump’s hotels from 12 into 30 by 2020.
10. Ivanka married Jared Kushner, owner of the real estate company Kushner Properties and the New York Observer newspaper, in 2009. The couple has three children, Arabella Rose (4), Joseph Frederick (2), and Theodore James (3 months).
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11. Upon her marriage, Ivanka converted to Judaism. She and Jared consider themselves observant, keeping kosher and the Sabbath. After the controversy over Donald Trump’s tweet featuring Hillary Clinton alongside a Star of David bearing the words “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!”, Kushner published an article in the Observer, defending his father-in-law against charges of antisemitism.
12. Among Ivanka’s close friends are political scions Chelsea Clinton and Georgina Bloomberg, whose parents are running or considered running against her father. Chelsea has said, “There’s nothing skin-deep about Ivanka. And I think that’s a real tribute to her because certainly anyone as gorgeous as she is could have probably gone quite far being skin-deep.”
13. Ivanka gave $1,000 to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. In 2013, she hosted a fundraiser for New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker’s Senate campaign. While she is open about the fact that she doesn’t always agree with her father, she is very private about any disagreements she may have with him.
