There’s another Trump in town: What’s Tiffany doing in London?
Just when you thought it was safe to go back outside, it isn’t. Just when you thought you’d seen the back of them, there’s another one. Just when you thought Britain had been returned to a Trump-free zone, it hasn’t.
On Sunday evening, as Air Force One took off from Glasgow Prestwick Airport with the president of the United States firmly strapped in, the sigh of relief across Britain was gale-force.
In just four days, Donald Trump had come, set fire to the special relationship, held hands with the prime minister, blocked the Queen’s path, had his bloated effigy raised over Parliament Square, been protested against, played some golf, been protested against a bit more, endured Piers Morgan’s weaponised obsequiousness, and then left. And that, you hoped, was it when it came to the Trumps in Britain.
Except it wasn’t. On Wednesday afternoon, as her father was learning the difference between woulds and wouldn’ts in Washington DC, Tiffany Ariana Trump, the president’s youngest daughter, arrived in London for her own diplomatic tour. It's going swimmingly.
The 24-year-old law student keeps a relatively low profile in the US, yet eagle-eyed paparazzi spotted her exiting The Arts Club in Mayfair alongside her mother, Trump’s ex-wife Marla Maples, just hours after arriving at Heathrow this week.
The photographs show Tiffany – unmistakably Trumpian in genes and wearing a shirt roughly as transparent as her father isn’t – being helped along by a secret service agent, after the group left nearby Latin American restaurant MNKY HSE (pronounced ‘monkey house’).
Earlier in the evening Tiffany met with her “best”, Karen Shiboleth, and Instagrammed their reunion yesterday. “Finally reunited with my best @kenshiboleth (definitely worth the trip to London to see my girl!)” she wrote. Shiboleth is an heiress, a friend of the ‘Rich Kids of Instagram’, and somebody who describes herself as “a work of fiction inspired by true events”. Last year she sued United Airlines for $150,000 after being moved from her business class seat while travelling to start a degree at King’s College London.
After the night out, the youngest Trump daughter followed in the footsteps of Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus Christ by visiting Glastonbury in Somerset, where she took an early morning walk, photographed some sheep, and posted another Instagram story.
It’s thought she may now carry on to Mykonos, where her friend Lindsay Lohan – she is of course friends with Lindsay Lohan – recently suggested they intend to meet over the summer.
Lohan, who Tiffany’s father once mused is “probably deeply troubled and therefore great in bed,” knew the family in New York, and calls Tiffany “a really sweet girl. Nice person.”
Over the last few years, the fourth Trump child has been portrayed as the black sheep of the gang, with little interest in appearing with Donald. She has appeared awkwardly on the end of family photographs, went missing for much of the campaign trail and (wisely) didn’t participate in any of the terrifying “#MillennialsForTrump” adverts with her older siblings.
“Tiffany has always been a very special person, very confident, very driven, always the hardest worker and not bashful about it,” her half-sister Ivanka once told the New York Times. “A lot of people are happy to get by without doing a lot of work, or work hard and pretend they don’t. She is proud of her work.”
As of last year, Tiffany studies law at Georgetown University in Washington DC, close to her father’s home at the White House. But according to tabloid rumours, since ending her relationship with longtime boyfriend Ross Mechanic – a real name, honestly – all has not been rosy.
“She has been having a rough summer,” a source told US magazine People. “The breakup with her longtime boyfriend is still bothering her. All the negative attention on her dad is stressing her out, and she’s just not been doing well lately.”
Responding to that suggestion, a spokesperson for Tiffany hit back. “Your ‘source’ is simply wrong. Tiffany is doing incredibly well. She had a terrific first year at Georgetown Law and is currently working this summer as a research assistant for Law Professor Shon Hopwood.”
Except she isn’t right now. Right now she’s in Britain. So be wary.