Trump Family Inc.: How the American president's daughter-in-law is making a business out of his electorate
A new poll by The Economist/YouGov shows a small but growing approval of Donald Trump among women, up to 38%, back to early fall levels. For the White House, this is especially significant on the cusp of the 2026 midterm elections, where the female electorate has traditionally played a key role in deciding the outcome of competitive districts. The growth is noticeable against the backdrop of an active media campaign by the Trump family - including Lara Trump, who is publicly promoting the idea that the president is capable of finishing his term with record ratings. With this publication Oninvest completes the series of materials on how Donald Trump's family monetizes the famous surname; the final article focuses on the businesses and political ambitions of the president's daughter-in-law.
Synopsis: Lara Trump, maiden name Junaska, is 42 years old. Born in North Carolina, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications from a local university. During her college years, she was a cheerleader and modeled part-time. After graduation, she changed several professions - worked as a bartender, waitress, fitness trainer. Then she finished culinary courses and briefly worked in the confectionery business. In 2008, she met Donald Trump's son Eric in a nightclub. In 2014, the couple married; they are raising two children. In her spare time, Lara does triathlons and runs marathons.
Business on MAGA
In the spring of 2025, Lara Trump found herself in the spotlight. Her statement that she could replace Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl went viral on social media. The post with this proposal gained 11 million views and caused an avalanche of memes, and Lara herself had to explain that it was a joke - "but not to the end".
Although Eric Trump's wife Eric Trump's singing career is limited to a few country singles about love for her native land, God and the people, a music video and a recent track with rapper French Montana, she incorporated LT Music LLC earlier this summer, hinting at serious intentions in the music business.
In parallel with recording songs, Eric Trump's wife is promoting her own fashion business. Being an avid sportswoman, Lara decided to conquer the market segment she knows best - namely, to start producing clothing for active lifestyles.
As with Melania Trump' s Christmas decorations, all of Lara's products are branded with MAGA symbols and have political overtones: for example, the $85 sports bodice is not just red, but "MAGA red." The clothes from the president's daughter-in-law are - as they should be - "100% made in the USA."
Each piece is handmade in the USA because I believe in bringing jobs back to our country so that change can come where it is truly needed.
In addition to developing her own brand, the president's daughter-in-law helps promote other people's businesses - also in the spirit of MAGA: In February 2025, Lara Trump became the official ambassador for the non-lethal weapons manufacturer Byrna. A short promotional video on the company's website notes that Lara herself is "a shooter with many years of practice." A relative of the president describes herself as someone who "appreciates guns like all other people."
Investors were not impressed by the news that the daughter-in-law of the US President became the face of the company. Since the beginning of the year, Byrna shares have fallen in price by 33.7% (as of December 12, 2025). In addition to Lara, the president's eldest son Don is also featured in Byrne's promo. However, there is no public information that the president's relatives are doing it for money.
The main female face of the Trump family
A relative of the American president receives her main income from her public activities.
First, she has been hosting her own program on Fox News since February 2025. As People notes, this is the first time in U.S. history that a relative of a sitting president becomes the host of a TV program.
The terms of Lara Trump's contract with Fox News are a mystery. According to Glassdoor, an online platform where employees of various companies share details about their working conditions on the basis of anonymity, the salary of an anchor at a TV channel can range from $60,000 to $100,000 a year on average.
Secondly, she receives fees for public appearances: according to Times of India and Celebrity Networth, she can ask for between $30,000 and $50,000 for offline appearances and up to $10,000 for online formats. However, these figures have not been officially confirmed.
Potentially willing to pay that much money to meet Lara Trump may well be found, because for 2024, she has become a real star in the Republican Party - thanks to Donald Trump.
During his first presidential campaign and first term, the politician had already resorted to the help of his daughter-in-law. According to Time magazine, the daughter-in-law helped him win votes in her home state for starters. She teamed up with a campaign director and became a ubiquitous presence in North Carolina - on TV and radio, speaking at rallies, hosting her own events. She also launched the Women for Trump bus tour, which, as the Washington Post notes, aimed to soften Trump's misogynistic image.
"The president's attitude toward Lara evolved over time into the deepest respect," a former top Trump adviser shared with the publication on condition of anonymity. - He no longer viewed her simply as Eric's wife. She became the link between his family and big politics.
After Trump's victory in 2016, Lara was engaged in the development of relations with party sponsors. However, she did not find a big role in the president's team - at that time, the main advisers and assistants of the politician were his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner.
In 2020, Lara was made a senior adviser to a new campaign - the same one the politician lost and was forced to leave the White House.
In 2024, during the new battle for the presidency, Trump needed someone to help him compete for the female vote. He could no longer count on his daughter - Ivanka and her husband had emphasized distancing themselves from politics (and policy). First Lady Melania stopped appearing in public altogether.
And then came Lara Trump's finest hour. In February, Donald Trump nominated her for co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Lara is an extremely talented communicator and is dedicated to all that MAGA represents
However, Lara later openly admitted that the offer was made to her because of a family connection.
"I'm not denying that a lot of things here have to do with my last name Trump," The Time quoted Lara as saying. - But I do believe that personal merit matters in everything we do."
She won office in March by securing a majority vote.
The president trusts her, she's confident on TV and has political instincts
However, opinions are divided on whether Trump's daughter-in-law is fit for the high office. Rob Statzman, former deputy chief of staff to Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke out against familialism during the campaign.
I think it is completely wrong that Trump's campaign staff is effectively turning the Republican National Committee into a family office. That's not normal. It's harmful.
However, Lara was soon able to prove that she had been chosen for the job for a reason: in just four months, from March to July, she managed to raise more than $280 million in donations. She led the Protect the Vote movement and recruited 100,000 volunteers across the country to serve as observers for the November elections. According to multiple anonymous sources, she was ultimately the one who managed to convince Trump to stop demonizing voting by mail, which the politician had previously considered a highly unreliable method. By July, major global and national media outlets - The Washington Post, The Time, BBC- were writing longreads about Lara. Lara herself was quite pleased with her results: "If I aim for something, I will do everything I can to achieve the result in the best possible way," she said in an interview with The Washington Post
All media outlets writing about the daughter-in-law in the summer of 2024 agreed on one thing: if Donald Trump returns to the White House, a bright political future awaits Lara. The main option for the president's daughter-in-law was Mark Rubio's seat in the U.S. Senate. Rumors about this possibility appeared after Trump chose Florida Senator Rubio to be the new Secretary of State. Lara herself openly said that she would be happy to have such an opportunity.
It's an option I would seriously consider. To be perfectly frank, I don't know exactly what that might look like yet. And, of course, I'd want to get all the information I can if this is indeed a viable path for me. But yes - I would 100% consider it.
Elon Musk has called out Trump's daughter-in-law to join his work in the DOGE cost-cutting department.
However, as a result, Eric Trump's wife chose a different path for herself - a TV host. According to her, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner helped her make this decision - for the sake of the children's peace of mind.
Even if I decided to move my entire family, including the dogs, to DC, I still think it would be a major challenge for my kids and for us as a whole.
It is noteworthy that this is the second time Lara has made such a decision: in 2022, she had the opportunity to run for the post of senator from North Carolina. Then the president's daughter-in-law also withdrew her candidacy, also in the interests of her family.
"You're the only person who's had a chance to be a senator twice, and twice you decided to turn it down," Lara says, which is how the White House chief of staff often teases her.
Online resource Yahoo News gives a slightly different interpretation of what is happening: according to the publication, despite the current friendly relationship between the two, there have long been rumors that Lara has a strained relationship with Trump.
In 2024, Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen said that over the years Trump disliked his daughter-in-law, thinking she was an "idiot," a claim Cohen made on an episode of Meiselas' Political Beatdown podcast.
Who's the future for?
Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he likes the concept of political dynasties. However, it seems that his older children and their other halves are not eager to realize this idea: sons Eric and Don are more interested in business, Ivanka has gone into the shadows and even the ambitious Lara eventually preferred a career in television. Son-in-law Jared Kushner has been making more and more news headlines lately, but only as an international peacemaker - Ivanka's husband does not seem to be interested in domestic politics.
Perhaps Trump's youngest son, Barron, will have to fulfill his daddy's dream. At least MAGA supporters are definitely ready for such a turn - they are already buying merch with the inscription "Barron for President in 2044".
But the new female face of the family could be the president's granddaughter, the eldest daughter of his son Don, Kai Trump. Kai is a professional golfer. In her 18 years she has 3.5 million subscribers in TikTok, 2.5 million in Instagram, 1.3 million on YouTube and 991 thousand - in X. Kai doesn't use her social media for the usual girly content - she has several major sponsorship deals, from golf product manufacturers to energy drinks and fitness trackers.
Like other family members, Kai is not shy about using her last name for commercial purposes: in September, she presented a collection of cotton sweatshirts with her initials on them for $130 each. All promotional photos of the items are taken against the backdrop of the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.
In the last presidential campaign of Donald Trump, the girl even managed to speak at one of the major events of the National Committee of the Republican Party - telling the audience what a wonderful grandfather Trump is. Photos with a famous relative regularly appear in the social networks of the athlete, next to advertising posts.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
