February 23, 2025 - 7:00pm
When Fox News announced that Lara Trump would host a new weekend show starting this month, liberals criticised it as one of the most brazen conflicts of interest in modern television history: a sitting president’s daughter-in-law getting her own prime-time news slot. Others focused on the nepotism angle — after all, her modest CV consists mainly of hosting duties on Trump’s Facebook-based “Real News Update”, but both claims miss the key point.
With Fox News now fully on board, “My View with Lara Trump” provides an important window into the future of the Trump legacy. The debut episode revealed a carefully crafted blend of gentle family propaganda and savvy political positioning, and arrives at an opportune moment as other networks and media platforms settle their lawsuits with Trump. As speculation builds about life after Trump and Lara’s brother-in-law Don Jr.’s 2028 prospects, this show provides an important window into the future of the Trump legacy.
The format is deceptively simple: soft-focus interviews with Trump’s most telegenic female appointees, each question prefaced with reverent historical context about Trump’s unwavering patriotism. “Long before Trump was running for President, he was fighting for the flag at Mar-a-Lago,” Lara reminds us while interviewing newly-minted Attorney General Pam Bondi, who once defended Trump’s right to fly the flag at a certain height.
Conversations with other Trump administration figures like White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt follow a similar pattern. “He’s so generous with his time…he cares what everyone thinks,” Leavitt gushes, to which Lara readily agrees: “That’s something he’s done amazingly well at.” Even harder-hitting segments, like an interview with recently-confirmed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, stay carefully on-message. Gabbard, discussing DEI programme savings in her office — “$20 million with one stroke of the pen” — maintains a notably sombre demeanour despite Lara’s efforts to lighten the mood. The show then closes with its softest segment, which includes viewer questions about Lara’s personal life such as her high school varsity cheerleading experience.
It is certainly notable that Trump has family members in key media outposts during, not after, his time in office. Other political progeny like Jenna Bush Hager and Meghan McCain didn’t land their network gigs (on “Today” and “The View,” respectively) until their famous fathers’ political ascents were long over. But whether “My View” survives past the administration on its merits hardly matters. It’s already serving its dual purpose as both a propaganda vehicle and launching pad for future Trump political careers.
Recent polling on the complex succession battle brewing within the MAGA movement illustrates this point. While a January 2025 poll from The Hill showed Donald Trump Jr. tied with Vice President JD Vance at 30% among Republican voters — with Jr. commanding an impressive 44% support among younger GOP voters (ages 18-34) — February’s CPAC straw poll revealed a dramatic shift, with Vance emerging as the clear favourite at 61% to Jr.’s 2%. This volatile polling landscape suggests why having a Trump family member commanding a prime-time slot on Fox News could be a key differentiator.
Indeed, Lara’s careful, positive narrative-crafting could help boost both her own political prospects and those of her better-known brother-in-law. Don Jr.’s cautious response to questions about his 2028 aspirations — “Oh, God. No, no, no, don’t get me into trouble” — suggests the family understands the delicate timing required for such manoeuvres. With Vance’s star rising rapidly within the MAGA movement thanks to moments like his powerful America First speech in Germany, “My View” offers the Trumps a weekly opportunity to keep reminding viewers where their loyalties should ultimately lie.
For good or ill, nobody has done branding quite like the Trumps. And with this latest venture, they’ve proven once again that in American politics and media, the original form of affirmative action — putting family, not America, first — remains undefeated. Whether the Trumps can avoid any future defeats will depend, at least in part, on how well this strategic relationship with Fox News enables Lara to do the work of ensuring a smooth succession.
Oliver Bateman is a historian and journalist based in Pittsburgh. He blogs, vlogs, and podcasts at his Substack, Oliver Bateman Does the Work
MoustacheClubUS
Why would Trump want to annoy his VP, who’s already doing great service to the cause, by putting one of his own in direct opposition to him for 2028?
The Trumpets would do better to aim for 2032, although there’s no accounting for ambition.
There are numerous leadership roles in the country where Lara Trump’s contribution would be welcomed…
A more apt comparison would be the installation of Jen Psaki, O’Biden’s Whitehouse Press Secretary with a prime time slot on MSNBC…
I honestly couldn’t care less about this business as usualness. Same as it ever was.
Fredo for president? Are you people really that far gone? Is your Trump worship so delusional that you would consider his idiot son to lead the the world (or whatever it is that Trump is doing right now)?
What is your problem with Trump again? You think he is just too rude?
I don’t think you’ve ever fully explained
U ok hun?
“Long before Trump was running for President, he was fighting for the flag at Mar-a-Lago,”
This would be the same coward who used Daddy’s money to avoid being conscripted into the army like all the other Americans at the time?
Is there a President since Reagan who hasn’t avoided service?
Yes, at least in the future: J D Vance.
Conscription had finished by the time most of them would have been called up, so it’s a rather moot point
Not so re Clinton and Bush who both weaselled out of it.
This article is ridiculous: the author states – “her modest CV consists mainly of hosting duties on Trump’s Facebook-based “Real News Update”, but both claims miss the key point”. In fact, Lara Trump was instrumental in getting Trump re-elected in her job as co-chair of the Republican National Committee. She’s a formidable and ambitious woman. This article is unfair – a real cheap shot. Then again, Democrats are pros at tearing Republican women down….and lately they’re great at taking women down in general via their quest to keep trans-women (aka biological men) on women sports teams….shame on the author – shame on the Democrats – again.
They never miss an opportunity to be hypocrites.
Isn’t it just awful, Oliver?
The Democrat-Left has OWNED the media—NYT, WaPo, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, AP, ABC, Reuters, etc., etc.—for many decdes, and has used it continuously to maintain its ugly, destructive political power. So now Lara Trump gets a Fox News slot with her own show, and you’re whining about it? Cry me a river, dude.