Lara Trump Reacts to Reports of Rift Within Trump Family

Ivanka Trump acquired separate legal representation from her brothers in a civil fraud suit against four Trump family members, but her sister-in-law has assured the public that the split hasn't affected the family.

Former President Donald Trump and his three eldest children—Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump—were named by New York Attorney General Letitia James in a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit last fall. The lawsuit seeks repayment of money from alleged fraudulent practices at the Trump Organization and aims to remove all four Trumps from their roles at the business and ban them from future leadership roles in the state.

Last week, Ivanka Trump separated from the legal representation she shared with her brothers and acquired separate representation from attorney Bennet Moskowitz. Prior to the split, Ivanka Trump's legal team asked the judge to delay the trial, arguing that the complaint filed by James "does not contain a single allegation that Ms. Trump directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed or certified any of her father's financial statements. The complaint affirmatively alleges that other individuals were responsible for those tasks." The statement points the finger at others in the lawsuit, such as her brothers or father.

Newsweek has reached out to Moskowitz by email for comment.

However, Eric Trump's wife Lara Trump denied that there has been a fallout between Ivanka and her siblings.

"I think people are trying to make that a bigger deal than it really is," Lara Trump told the British tabloid newspaper Daily Mail. "It's not common to have to go through all this stuff that my husband and his siblings go through."

Lara Trump said the Trump siblings have worked with a "series of different attorneys" and that Ivanka Trump "felt closer to one." Lara Trump said she and Ivanka Trump still get together since they both live in Florida.

Ivanka Trump has separated herself from her father's third presidential campaign. Once a senior adviser in her father's administration, Ivanka Trump said she did "not plan to be involved in politics" during his third campaign. Her husband, Jared Kushner, attended Donald Trump's campaign announcement at Mar-a-Lago in November, but Ivanka Trump stayed home.

"While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside of the political arena," she said in a statement to CNN shortly after the former president announced his 2024 bid.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's campaign by email for comment.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are still working with attorneys Clifford Robert and Michael Farina.

Michael McAuliffe, a former federal prosecutor and former elected state attorney, previously told Newsweek that switching representation was not unusual, considering there were multiple related defendants in the trial.