Lara Trump’s monumental rise in politics from TV producer and RNC co-chair to Marco Rubio’s ‘Senate successor’
DONALD Trump's daughter-in-law has pitched herself for a soon-to-be-vacant seat in the Senate, which would mark a monumental arc from a former TV producer to a political leader.
The president-elect tapped Florida Senator Marco Rubio to lead his State Department once he takes the White House, meaning Governor Ron DeSantis can appoint who fills Rubio's seat.
Calls for the job to go to Lara Trump, who's married to Donald's third kid Eric Trump, started circulating online as Republican supporters speculated she could be the best person for the job.
Republican Alabama Senator Katie Britt publicly called for Lara, 42, to fill Rubio's seat on Tuesday, saying she "understands the America First agenda," according to .
"For me, I think she would be a tremendous pick, a voice for hard-working families and another mom of school-aged kids that understands what we're up against, and that's to fight to protect the American dream," Britt told the outlet about Lara.
Then on Wednesday, Lara confirmed her interest in the position, telling Fox News, "If I am able to serve, I would love to serve the people of Florida.
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"This is my home state now and has been for three years. This is where Eric and I live and truly to have that opportunity, I think would be incredible."
She added that no one knows Trump's agenda and goals for the next four years better than her.
"So, if I am asked, I would love to consider it, but I have yet to have a conversation with Governor DeSantis," she said.
LARA'S RISE IN GOP
Lara, who shares two kids with Eric, was elected the co-chair of the Republican National Convention by a unanimous vote after her father-in-law endorsed her.
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Before she was voted in as co-chair, Lara declared that if she were elected, "every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC — that is electing Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and saving this country," reported.
Donald was elected to be the 47th President of the United States last week in a landslide win against Democrat Kamala Harris.
His daughter-in-law was often seen on the campaign trail throughout his journey to victory, as she's supported the Trump family for years.
Lara, born Lara Yunaska, is a native of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, which is just east of Wilmington.
She studied communications at North Carolina State University and went on to earn a degree in pastry arts from the French Culinary Institute in New York, according to .
Lara told comedian Tyrus this summer that she first met Eric on a night out in New York City, according to Fox Corporation site .
After dating for six years, the couple married at the family's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in 2014.
On top of being a chef and a personal trainer on the side, Lara quickly became involved in the TV field.
Lara worked as a story coordinator and producer at Inside Edition, a TV news magazine series, from 2012 to 2016.
She hit the campaign trail with Eric and Donald's other kids in 2016, particularly advocating for her father-in-law in her home state of North Carolina.
Donald Trump surrounds himself with 'undyingly loyal' family, expert says
BY Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
American political scientist Professor Natasha Lindstaedt told The Sun that President-elect Donald Trump likes to surround himself with "undyingly loyal" family members.
She said: "Trump has always used his family members.
"He famously put Jared Kushner, his daughter's husband, in charge of almost everything you could think of from reforming the entire government peace in the Middle East, solving the opioid crisis.
"He's tended to lean on his family members, particularly his son, Don Jr and his son Eric. They are some of his surrogates.
"The whole thing of relying on family is this idea that he wants to be surrounded by only those that are undyingly loyal towards him."
For his 2024 campaign, Professor Lindstaedt says Ivanka is "nowhere to be seen".
She explained: "Ivanka wasn't at all part of this campaign; she was nowhere to be seen.
"I don't even remember seeing much of her at the Republican Convention.
"She sort of disappeared after January 6th because she was so upset about that, and testified something to that effect.
"But Trump likes to surround himself by those that are really loyal to him."
Trump's granddaughter Kai spoke about her loving "Grandpa" at the Republican National Convention.
Professor Lindstaedt said: "The Republican Convention happened not that long after the 1st assassination attempt.
"They definitely wanted to portray him in a different way, where they started talking about him as a grandfather and a family man.
"You had speeches like you mentioned from his grandchildren and his children.
"And so that was a bit of an effort to reshape his image."
In the two months before the presidential election in 2016, when Donald Trump faced off against Hillary Clinton in the race to the White House, Lara put her job as an associate producer on hold.
“I wasn’t going to have the time to adequately dedicate to this,” Lara told local Wilmington paper at the time.
"When they’re reporting on your family on the show you work for, it’s a little challenging.
"We managed to keep everything pretty even-keeled for the duration of this whole thing, but certainly it’s nice to not have to worry about that from day to day," she said.
After Donald was elected, Lara took an active role in the White House and worked on his 2020 reelection campaign.
On March 29, 2021, she joined Fox News as a contributor - but the stint didn't last long.
Donald Trump's Cabinet Picks
In the days following his dominant Election Day victory, President-elect Donald Trump has begun carving out his future administation.
Here's a list of Trump's confirmed cabinet picks:
- Susie Wiles - White House Chief of Staff
- Stephen Miller - Deputy Chief of Staff
- Bill McGinley - White House counsel
- Tom Homan, ex-ICE acting director - "Border Czar"
- Elise Stefanik, Republican New York representative - Ambassador to the United Nations
- Lee Zeldin, former New York representative - Environmental Protection Agency administrator
- Marco Rubio, Republican Florida senator - Secretary of State
- Kristi Noem, Republican South Dakota governor - Homeland Security Secretary
- Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor - Ambassador to Israel
- John Ratcliffe, former Texas representative - CIA director
- Pete Hegseth, US Army veteran - Secretary of Defense
- Mike Waltz, Republican Florida representative - National Security Advisor
- Steven Witkoff, real estate investor - Middle East envoy
- Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy - Department of Government Efficiency
- Tim Scott, Republican South Carolina senator - Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
- Tulsi Gabbard, former Hawaii representative - Director of National Intelligence
- Matt Gaetz, Republican Florida representative - attorney general
After Trump declared his second re-election bid, Fox News announced in 2022 that Lara would no longer work at the network due to company policy.
Now, Lara might fill a seat in the Florida Senate as long as DeSantis doesn't pick James Uthmeier, his longtime chief of staff, for the role.
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Uthmeier could hold the Senate position until the next election in 2026, when the governor could run for the seat at the end of his gubernatorial term.
Either way, DeSantis has a huge decision ahead of him, and whatever choice is made could drastically change Florida's political landscape.
