An old photo of Ivanka Trump posing alongside her father, Donald Trump, as she graduated from college has shut down claims that the former president wasn’t present when she celebrated her milestone.
Questions around Donald Trump’s presence at his children’s graduation celebrations became a talking point on social media this week, after it was revealed that the real estate mogul may miss son Barron Trump’s high school graduation due to his recently commenced “hush money” trial.
Former The Apprentice star Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to so-called hush money he arranged for his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair she had with the former president a secret ahead of the 2016 election.
The money was listed in the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee’s company records as “legal fees,” which prosecutors suggest was part of an unlawful attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 race. Trump admitted to reimbursing the $130,000 to Cohen, but denies all wrongdoing, saying that the trial is part of a political witch hunt aimed at derailing his White House bid.
Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty Images;/Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Donald Trump’s lawyers have requested he miss court on May 17 to attend 18-year-old Barron Trump’s graduation. Judge Juan Merchan has yet to approve or deny the request, which depends on whether the trial is running to schedule.
Hitting hit out at Merchan on Monday, Donald Trump called the New York state judge “conflicted and corrupt” on Truth Social. Trump’s supporters have rallied behind him on social media, criticizing Merchan.
Amid the ensuing discussion of the matter on social media, a number of Donald Trump detractors this week took to X, formerly Twitter, to share photos of Ivanka Trump graduating. She was seen posing with family members that didn’t include her father.
“If Donald Trump didn’t go to Ivanka’s graduation, he ain’t going to Barron’s,” read one post that showed the Ivanka Trump posing with her mother, Ivana Trump, and her brothers, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
During her high school years, Ivanka Trump attended a private Connecticut boarding school. A 2016 article in the school’s publication noted that Donald Trump was present at the ceremony. Ivanka Trump went on to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 2004. Her father’s attendance was reported on by The Philadelphia Daily News.
Backing this up, Ivanka Trump shared a post on Facebook back in May 2011 that showed her at her graduation, posing alongside her father and brothers. She didn’t add a caption to the post, which was met with a stream of congratulatory messages.
Newsweek has contacted a representative of Donald Trump via email for comment.
Earlier this week, a photo of Donald Trump graduating from college went viral online. The image shows a young Donald Trump at his high school graduation. Wearing a black gown with a yellow collar, the Republican politician stands with his father, Fred Trump, as the duo smile for the camera.
The photo was shared by conservative political strategist and lobbyist Roger Stone, who worked as a consultant on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The 71-year-old was arrested in 2019 as part of Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation, which examined whether Russian interference influenced the 2016 U.S. general election.
Stone was found guilty on seven counts, including for lying to the House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee, obstructing justice and witness tampering. However, his 40-month jail sentence was commuted by Trump in July 2020.
“Barron Trump deserves to be accompanied by his father at his high school graduation, just as Donald Trump was accompanied by his father, Fred, at his,” Stone wrote. “Just like every other graduating student in the United States!”
Barron Trump, 18, is the former president’s youngest child and only son with his wife, former first lady Melania Trump.
The politician is also father to Donald Trump Jr., 46, Ivanka Trump, 42, and Eric Trump, 40, whose mother was Trump’s late first wife, Ivana Trump. Additionally, the patriarch shares Tiffany Trump, 30, with his ex-wife, Marla Maples.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.