Will Donald Trump's family return to his side?

Donald Trump's family face a growing dilemma about if and when to return to his side as the former president closes in on the Republican nomination for the upcoming election.

Despite the hoards of devoted followers turning up to his rallies, Trump cuts a relatively lonely figure on stage these days. In previous campaigns, he was often joined by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, her husband Jared Kushner, and sons Donald Jr and Eric.

But although he is currently neck-and-neck with Joe Biden in the polls to win November's presidential election, the potential prospect of Trump ending up in prison, rather than the White House, may be a deterrent against returning to what the BBC's Kayla Epstein calls his "family circus".

What did the commentators say?

The return of Trump for a second term is "a nightmare scenario for many in the United States and beyond", said The Telegraph, "but for some of his family members, it's a murky dilemma".

Ivanka, long believed to be her father's favourite, and her husband were conspicuously absent at his 2024 presidential announcement and have not appeared on the campaign trail since.

It is a similar story with Trump's wife, Melania. The 53-year-old former model has  "stayed under the radar" since leaving Washington in 2021, said Yahoo News, and has largely focused on their son, Barron, 17, who is currently applying for college. Except for a "few public events", she has "stayed away from her husband's numerous court appearances and avoided joining him on the campaign trail", said Business Insider.

Her absence has become a talking point in Washington, with Trump's political opponents even distributing flyers showing a picture of Melania with the captions "Have you seen this woman?" and "Missing".

"The really key part here is those trials," said The Telegraph. "If she has to choose between returning to the White House, or watching her husband become a felon (and possibly a bankrupt one at that), she'll take Option A any day."

Ivanka faces a "similar quandary", and although Trump can still count on his two older sons, Donald Jr and Eric, neither have the star power of his wife or daughter.

What next?

All this matters because Trump's immediate family are among the few people who can genuinely influence him.

According to Axios, Melania has weighed in on Trump's choice of running mate, strongly advocating for former Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson, and even indicating that she might be more likely to hit the campaign trail if he was on board. Page Six reported that the former first lady was set to "step up top-tier diplomatic appearances in 2024" after Trump scored a Supreme Court victory in December in his federal election subversion case.

As for Ivanka, The New York Times said her role "in the family White House drama" was always to be "the rational actor, there to talk some restraint into her more bombastic, action-man dad".

She benefited enormously from her father being in office, reportedly by as much as $640 million, "and for the four horrific years of his presidency, was uniquely positioned to stop Donald Trump and failed to do so", said Slate. And she "remains uniquely positioned" to stop him but "fails to do so."

Both Ivanka and Kushner took "senior advisory roles" in Trump's first government, said The Hill, but "would not join him again in his administration if he returns to the White House". The former president told Fox News last year that going back into politics would be "too painful" for his family.

However, there have been rumours that Trump could appoint his son-in-law to a senior role in his next administration – possibly even secretary of state. "That would give Kushner a major ego-boosting position of power," said The Telegraph, "and, if Ivanka decides the family is better off together – financially, legally, politically or otherwise – you can bet this savvy operator will make the Trumps great again."