Donald Trump, accompanied by his daughter Ivanka Trump, walks out of the Oval Office. Photo / AP
Donald Trump, accompanied by his daughter Ivanka Trump, walks out of the Oval Office. Photo / AP
Joe Biden has taken a subtle dig at former First Daughter Ivanka Trump and the role she played in her father's administration.
Accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden in their first interview since moving into the White House last month, the US President told People he intends to "run" his time in office "like the Obama-Biden administration", referring to his eight-year stint as US Vice President from 2008 to 2016.
In a nod to his predecessor Donald Trump's time in office, however, he added that "no one in our family and extended family is going to be involved in any government undertaking or foreign policy".
"And nobody," Biden said, "has an office in the place."
The comments have raised eyebrows over whether Biden was referring to Trump's tendency to hire family members for key positions in the Oval Office, particularly 39-year-old Ivanka, who served as an adviser to her father from 2017 onwards.
Ivanka Trump comes onto stage as Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally. Photo / AP
Listed on the White House website as "adviser to the president" and focusing on the "education and economic empowerment of women and their families", Ms Trump had her own chief of staff and an office in the West Wing which officials compared to "walking into an Apple store".
Before Trump was elected in 2016, his eldest daughter was better known for her role as a fixture of New York high society, her fashion business and her carefully cultivated personal brand.
When Trump brought her – and husband Jared Kushner – into his circle of most trusted advisers and Ms Trump took a prominent role in meetings with the G20 and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, many were quick to point out the politics-shaped hole in the mother-of-three's resume.
"Being someone's daughter actually isn't a career qualification," Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said of the former president's hiring tactics.
"It hurts our diplomatic standing when the president phones it in (and) the world moves on."
US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden watch fireworks from the White House. Photo / AP
According to Trump's former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, the 74-year-old wanted to grant his daughter an even more prominent role in his administration – as his vice-presidential running mate.
But Ms Trump, Gates wrote in his book Wicked Game: An Insider's Story On How Trump Won, Mueller Failed, And America Lost, quashed the idea.
Still, it's long been reported that of his five children, the self-described billionaire sees Ms Trump as his heir apparent.
While he told The Atlantic in 2019 that he was proud of them all, Ivanka was "unique".
He added that his daughter, who has a "tremendous presence when she walks into the room", was a "natural diplomat".
"She would've been great at the United Nations, as an example," Trump said.
"If I did (nominate her), they'd say nepotism, when it would've had nothing to do with nepotism. But she would've been incredible. I even thought of Ivanka for the World Bank … She would've been great at that because she's very good at numbers."
Donald Trump, accompanied by his daughter Ivanka Trump, walks out of the Oval Office. Photo / AP
In recent months, speculation has been mounting that Ms Trump was laying the groundwork for a political career of her own, with many convinced she ultimately has her eyes on the Oval Office.
Rumours have been swirling that she plans to kick off her political career via a run for Florida governor, with a source telling CNN that her move from Washington to the state was politically motivated.
"Ivanka definitely has political ambitions, no question about it," they said.
"She wants to run for something, but that still needs to be figured out."
Whether governor of Florida or leader of the free world, though, at least Ms Trump knows that her father is in her corner.
"If she ever wanted to run for president," Trump said in The Atlantic interview two years ago, "I think she'd be very, very hard to beat."
