Trump’s Longstanding Preference for Powerful, Intelligent Women Defies Recent Scandal Claims

The article argues that Donald Trump’s career has been marked by a consistent reliance on strong, intelligent, and elegant women, a fact the author says is overlooked in current attacks on his executive assistant Natalie Harp. Beginning with his first wife Ivana, who was portrayed as a shrewd partner in his real-estate empire, the piece highlights Barbara Res, who at 31 became the first woman to oversee the construction of a major New York skyscraper for the Trump Organization.

It also cites Carolyn Kepcher’s role on The Apprentice and as COO of Trump National Golf Clubs, as well as the involvement of his daughters Ivanka and Melania in the family business. The author adds that campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, senior aides Hope Hicks and Brooke Rollins, and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley all exemplify this archetype, and that press secretaries such as Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kayleigh McEnany and Karoline Leavitt have served in high-profile positions. The piece concludes that Trump’s pattern of appointing women to influential posts challenges the narrative that his hiring of Harp is scandalous, while also noting the article’s disclaimer and promoting Tyler O’Neil’s new book.