SEATTLE — When Donald Trump won the White House in January 2017, he had the full support of his family, from his eldest son, Donald Jr., to first lady Melania Trump.

His eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, were considered so picky that they received special dispensations to hold official government positions in the West Wing.

Ivanka was named “Counselor to the President” responsible for “the educational and economic empowerment of women and their families.” Kushner is a “senior adviser to the president” — asked to handle everything from updating the government’s outdated technology to ensuring peace in the Middle East.

Some — including supporters of the couple — claim they played a role in moderating Trump’s worst excesses. When hundreds of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, his daughter reportedly urged him to stop the riot.

Now, the two say they will not join Trump even if he returns to the White House. “I’m very clear that my desire at this point in my life is to focus on my company,” Kushner said recently. Axios. “As a family, I’m really enjoying this opportunity to be out of the spotlight. My wife and I both work in the White House, which is a high-stakes job 24/7.”

To those around Trump, his second term could look very different. As his legal woes intensify, his rhetoric grows more vitriolic and his credibility erodes, his relatives may become crucial.

It remains to be seen whether Ivanka and Kushner decide to take unofficial roles if he wins in November — and whether they take steps to curb his most problematic behavior.

It is speculated that the 77-year-old will once again be accompanied by Melania, but their son Barron recently turned 18 and is likely to be in college.

The former first lady will be careful not to make the same mistake she made last time, when she was ridiculed for plagiarizing Michelle Obama’s speech. She has been seen sparingly on the campaign trail so far, and people close to her have spoken of her anger over Trump’s alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels, which will become public next month The hush money trial began at the center. Trump has denied the encounter and said the payment had nothing to do with his campaign.

But two weeks ago, when she and Trump traveled to Palm Beach to vote in Florida’s presidential primary, she smiled and replied: “Stay tuned.”

This year, Donald Trump Jr, 46, and his brother Eric, 40, were found guilty of business fraud in New York along with their father and ordered to pay more than $450m (£357m) to the state ) amount. They are appealing that decision and a ruling that bars them from doing business in New York.

While the sons have joined their father’s campaign, it seems unlikely that any of them will enter the White House in an official capacity if their father wins.

Eric’s wife, Lara Trump, was also a central figure in her father-in-law’s reelection campaign and was appointed to the RNC after Trump’s disgruntled Ronna McDaniel was ousted (RNC) Vice Chairman.

The former president’s youngest daughter, Tiffany, campaigned for her father in 2016 and 2020 and appears likely to remain loyal. The 30-year-old, who will marry the billionaire in 2022, attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago with Laura, while Ivanka and Melania were not in attendance.

Trump has repeatedly shown that he values ​​loyalty above all else.

The right-wing Heritage Foundation helped develop Plan 2025, a plan to reshape government and deregister many positions as civil servants.

People applying to work in the Trump administration must pass a loyalty test as part of a plan to deploy 50,000 pre-vetted employees across the government from day one.

“The actions of liberal politicians in Washington create a desperately needed and unique opportunity for conservatives to begin undoing the damage caused by the left and build a better country for all Americans by 2025,” its manifesto said.

Many believe that if Trump is re-elected, he will use the levers of government to pursue his promised “revenge” agenda.

Dr. Craig Malkin was one of 27 psychiatrists who published in 2017 The dangerous case of Donald Trumpsaying their “moral and civic duty is to warn” Americans about the symptoms and characteristics of what they consider “a complex, even dangerous, crazy man.”

Malkin, a psychology lecturer at Harvard Medical School, writes that “pathological narcissism and politics are a deadly combination.”

He said I: “Trump’s language has become darker and more apocalyptic precisely because he faces failure after failure and is denied by those around him, and the world has become increasingly dangerous in his eyes.”

Malkin believes that the presence of trusted family members may be the only moderating influence on Trump as he begins his second term. “Without this, they will further fall into confusion and confusion in the face of failure.” Mental illness”.

He added: “My biggest concern is that he increasingly drives away everyone who might help him get a handle on reality. The president needs this.”

Some members of the Trump family have long been outright hostile to him.

Mary L Trump is an author, psychologist and Trump’s niece. In a tell-all book in 2020, Too much and never enoughshe claimed she was on a mission to “take down The Donald” and claimed he defrauded her of tens of millions of dollars from her grandfather’s real estate portfolio.

She plans to write another book later this year and has continued to attack her uncle in a newsletter, most recently writing in an article about a judge issuing a gag order: “My family and I witnessed Donald’s narcissism and lack of self-control. When Donald is under pressure, he has zero self-control.”

Kirby Goidel, a political science professor at Texas A&M University, believes Trump will seek to fill his administration with loyalists. If all these people are experienced administrators, this can help him get the results he wants.

However, he told Ithere may be potential shortcomings.

“Trump wants people to be loyal to him, that’s why family is important, that’s why even Ivanka and Jared are unfaithful [there] We expect family members to play an important role in his administration,” he said.

However, he believes that while something like this can work for smaller organizations, finding people who are both committed and competent for the job can be a challenge.

“I think there’s a trade-off,” he said. “But if you trade competence for loyalty, how does that affect your ability to achieve your goals?”