How Tiffany Trump Almost Upstaged Her Father's White House Exit

It's hard to imagine anyone outshining the political spectacle that was former President Donald Trump's transition out of the White House following his failed bid for re-election in 2020. But if anyone came close, it was his youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump. Amid the news of the contentious fall election and the subsequent Capitol riot on January 6, a much happier morsel of news was revealed in January 2021: Tiffany got engaged. 

The only daughter of Donald and his second wife, Marla Maples, shared the good news on her Instagram profile on January 19, one day before the inauguration of President Joe Biden that would mark her family's official departure from the White House. Under a photo of her and her now husband, Michael Boulos, standing in the White House colonnade, Tiffany wrote a caption that seemingly bid farewell to her family's old digs while announcing the good news. 

"It has been an honor to celebrate many milestones, historic occasions, and create memories with my family here at the White House," the Georgetown grad wrote, "none more special than my engagement to my amazing fiancé Michael!"

While the rest of the world was looking to see if Donald Trump would leave the White House peacefully, Tiffany Trump and Michael Boulos were looking down the wedding aisle — a stark contrast that did not go unnoticed by the online community. "Like any good series finale, the minor characters are now wrapping up their story lines," wrote one X, formerly known as Twitter, user, seemingly referencing Tiffany's secondary familial role when compared to her other high-profile siblings like Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. 

For some supporters, the engagement announcement was a welcome upswing from the heated news surrounding the Trumps following the 2020 election. And according to some inside sources, this was likely also the case for Tiffany. A Trump advisor told People in November 2020 that Tiffany was "really Zen and level-headed about [Trump's election loss]." Compared to some of her siblings and in-laws, who were described as "shell-shocked" and "livid," it's clear that Tiffany's mind was on other things two months prior to her engagement. 

Tiffany's ability to compartmentalize her father's departure from the presidency might've had to do with the fact that Donald's four years in office reportedly hurt his relationship with his youngest daughter. Sources told People that Tiffany and her father were practically estranged from 2016 to 2020, which could be why she was more ready to focus on the positives as her family approached their departure from office.

Tiffany Trump spent most of her childhood on the West Coast with her mother, Marla Maples, who was married to former President Donald Trump from 1993 to 1999. With Donald and her half-siblings all the way across the country in New York City, Tiffany's connection with her paternal family was unsurprisingly distant. This disconnection was further emphasized in adulthood by Tiffany's body language toward her half-siblings, as decoded by Adrianne Carter, The Face Whisperer and Body Language Expert, in an exclusive interview with The List. 

Still, weddings have a special way of bringing even the coldest of relationships closer together, and Tiffany's stunning wedding in November 2022 seemed to be no exception. Tiffany and her husband, multibillion-dollar conglomerate heir Michael Boulos, wed in a lavish, pastel floral-filled wedding at her father's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The exorbitant festivities, which were almost postponed due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Nicole, included the rest of the Trump family, though the entirety of the elite guest list remains undisclosed.

"The wedding was a bonding moment, and she has been more accepted by the family," an anonymous source disclosed to Page Six following the nuptials. "It brought them closer." Moreover, the source added, "The wedding was a huge political event and had a lot of donors." Indeed, the tumultuous circumstances under which Tiffany first announced her proposal seemed a far, sunny cry from her idyllic Floridian wedding almost two years later.