Melania is Ivanka's 'comfort blanket' even though the first daughter tries hiding it, says body language expert
While there has often been some sort of tension and power play reported between Ivanka and Melania Trump — which the media has probably exaggerated, building on the "evil stepmother" narrative — a body language expert recently revealed that the duo actually shares a much closer relationship.
Despite not being Ivanka's real mother and sharing a son of her own with President Donald Trump, the first lady always served as a mother figure to the first daughter, especially when she was faced with situations in life which got Ivanka out of her comfort zone.
Speaking to Express, body language expert Bruce Durham revealed that although Ivanka seems to be in her element, as she serves as a senior political adviser in her dad's administration, Melania has played a key role in the years when Ivanka was growing up.
"Overall, Ivanka seems to be gradually gaining her own confidence in herself and in the new role she finds herself in, but there is enough evidence to suggest that Melania is actually key to this growth. I see typical parent-child behavioral patterns. Ivanka is most definitely on her own journey, but as much as she may want to be ‘the boss’ as is typical on our journey to adulthood, she ‘checks in’ quite frequently with Melania. She uses Melania as her comfort blanket when she is feeling a little outside of her comfort zone," the expert said.
Despite the fact that the mother-of-one has always been criticized for marrying a man who was much older than her, and that she wasn't much older than his eldest daughter, that is actually not true. When Melania first began dating Trump, Ivanka was just 16 years old and Melania is 12 years older than her. It would be natural that with her biological mother Ivana Trump missing from her daily life, Ivanka would look to Melania for guidance during her formative years.
The relationship has continued even now, with Ivanka looking to her stepmother for reassurance when she sometimes feels uncomfortable making public appearances.
"Ivanka, however, displays signs of uncertainty and looking for either guidance — what do I do next? Or reassurance — is what I am doing the right thing to do? While Ivanka may be increasing in confidence what is very interesting is that her need to be guided by Melania, has always been present, but is actually even stronger now," Durham said.
While it might not be apparent to an outsider that Ivanka leans on Melania for comfort at times, the body language expert said that the former deliberately hides the mother-daughter dynamic between the pair, lest it is misconstrued by the media as a sign of her weakness.
"Ivanka may not want to acknowledge this due to any power struggle," Bruce continued. "But the body language is evident enough to offer this as an accurate observation. Think about a young lady, out there, creating her own brand, painting her own picture and taking over the world. If hurt or threatened the first instinct may be to shout, ‘Where’s my mum?’ While not her biological mother, there is a definite mentoring role that Melania is filling," Durham said.