Ivanka Trump

Here’s a new measure of how bad a train wreck Donald Trump’s presidency is: stories about First Daughter Ivanka used to be about how much influence she had on her father and all the issues where she would keep him from being a right-wing extremist. Just over six months after Donald’s inauguration, though, Ivanka puff pieces have a new tone. Call it “leave Ivanka aloooone.” And so it goes in the latest from Politico: She’s doing the best she can! Judge her not on her past publicity but on her current expectation-lowering!

Okay, Annie Karni and Eliana Johnson report, so Ivanka and husband, Jared Kushner, helped push out former chief of staff Reince Priebus, and they supported the hiring of Anthony “not trying to suck my own cock” Scaramucci, but on policy? Forget about it. Ivanka has no say, so don’t blame her!

Last week they were blindsided by the president’s tweet saying he planned to ban transgender people from serving in the military, according to several White House aides, a major coup for conservatives who had been quietly lobbying the administration on the issue for months.

Remember when Ivanka and Jared were going to be the most important people in the White House? Now they’re practically irrelevant—or at least that’s what they want us to believe.

She has told allies that she wants to be held accountable solely on those issues she is actively working on — uphill battles that will count as major victories if she is successful — and the success of a World Bank fund she helped start, geared at helping female entrepreneurs gain access to capital. She has also said she wants to make ending human trafficking a White House priority. [...] Meanwhile, she desperately wants to lower expectations of what she can achieve in an administration where she views herself as one person on a large team — even though other White House officials said she still has access to the president whenever she desires it. Allies have bucked up her spirits by telling her that her legacy will look better in hindsight if she is successful in moving the needle on her stated issues. And as she navigates the unique role of working-daughter-in-the-White House, she is reading Eleanor Roosevelt’s biography for guidance and inspiration.

Being a rich, pretty socialite may mean getting the credit when you want it and never facing blame for your failures, but Ivanka is coming up against the limits of that no-accountability lifestyle. And like her father, it sounds like she’s responding by surrounding herself with people telling her what she wants to hear. It sure would be interesting to watch her try to emulate Eleanor Roosevelt, though.