Tiffany Trump: Raised Away from Donald Trump’s Shadow, Finds Her Own Path
PHOTO: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY
Tiffany is undeniably a Trump, but she was raised in a different environment, away from her notorious father Donald Trump’s shadow, in California by her mother, Marla Maples. The now 30-year-old law school graduate is reportedly a lot different from her half-siblings in two major ways, as revealed by her former college advisor to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
In reports resurfaced by Nicki Swift, Hocine Fetni, her college advisor, noted that Tiffany has two things that set her apart from her other family members: her education and her focus during her academic years. Tiffany first attended her father’s alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology with a concentration in law and society.
Unlike her half-siblings who followed their father’s footsteps into business school, Tiffany chose Georgetown University Law Center, graduating in May 2020. According to Fetni, who was both her advisor and sociology professor, Tiffany was more inclined toward human rights, particularly focusing on the mistreatment of minority groups within the U.S. judicial system.
“[Tiffany] found that … if you are a minority or are really economically disadvantaged, then you’re really going to have less of a chance of really having your rights respected just as a human being and as a U.S. citizen,” said Fetni. “Tiffany is her own person. Every one of us is our own person and we cannot connect our thoughts to a parent or sibling.”
Fetni continued, “We love our parents and we care about them, but when it comes to how we approach things, we think differently. Some people, though, do follow in their parent’s footsteps even ideologically, but I did not see that from Tiffany,” highlighting how her education and ambitions were distinct from those of her former president father.
Although Donald Trump was rarely present for his daughter’s milestones, he did congratulate her after her graduation on X, formerly Twitter. He wrote, “Congratulations to my daughter, Tiffany, on graduating from Georgetown Law. Great student, great school. Just what I need is a lawyer in the family. Proud of you Tiff!”
Marla Maples also commented on Trump’s role in Tiffany’s upbringing. The former model told PEOPLE, “Her daddy is a good provider with education and such, but as far as time, it was just me. Her father wasn’t able to be there with day-to-day skills as a parent. He loves his kids. There’s no doubt. But everything was a bit of a negotiation.”
Tiffany expressed gratitude for how her mother raised her, saying, “She moved us out of New York to get out of the spotlight and let me grow up and find my own identity versus being in the shadow of a name or growing up very young with all that pressure. So, she wanted me to have a chance to have a normal childhood. As normal as possible. I think that she did well in that.”
