Ivanka & Melania Trump's 'Real Tension' Is Hard To Miss in the First Lady's New Documentary, Sources Say

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Melania Trump might be subtly making a statement about her relationship with stepdaughter Ivanka Trump in her upcoming documentary, Melania, out January 30, 2026.

Insiders are whispering about the “complete absence” of Ivanka in the feature film, per Rob Shuter’s Substack. “Melania and Ivanka do not get along — not at all,” the source claimed. “There’s real tension, and Melania made it clear she didn’t want Ivanka anywhere near this film.”

The insider alleged that “there’s zero love lost” and that “Ivanka’s absence is intentional.” The rumors about their troubled relationship resurfaced in September when only Tiffany Trump and her husband, Michael Boulos, were in attendance at the state dinner with the royal family.

According to a NewsNation source, the First Lady felt “overshadowed” by Ivanka in 2019 when they visited the U.K. “That wasn’t going to happen again,” the insider shared. “Melania is much more in power and control than she was in the first presidency and didn’t want Ivanka coming to this meeting.”

The feud reportedly reached a fever pitch during Donald Trump’s first administration when Ivanka asserted herself as a de facto First Lady in Washington, D.C., while Melania waited until son Barron finished out the school year in New York City.

“Melania lived in New York. She didn’t appear in public or release statements to the press. Her social media was quiet,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff wrote in her 2020 book, Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady. “Ivanka rushed in to fill the void as ‘acting’ First Lady, issuing constant social media posts and press releases galore about her involvement with women’s issues, lobbying Daddy about climate change (alas, unsuccessfully), and attending every meeting she could slink her way into.”

That didn’t sit well with Melania, who privately referred to Ivanka as “The Princess” behind her back, per Katie Rogers, author of American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden — she claimed that the women were constantly “locked in a quiet competition for press coverage.”

It doesn’t look like that situation has improved, but with Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, out of the political scene, Melania can call the shots.

A source who saw a preview of Melania’s film told Shuter, “It’s her story, her rules. Barron is protected, Ivanka is gone, and the spotlight never leaves Melania.”

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Before you go, click here to see family feuds we can’t believe played out in public.