3:37 p.m. ET, November 12, 2020
Trump's eldest children split on his path forward
From CNN's Pamela Brown, Dana Bash, Gloria Borger and Betsy Klein
Donald Trump Junior, left, Ivanka Trump, center, and Eric Trump listen during a joint press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth office in London on June 4, 2019.
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
President Trump has long sought advice from different perspectives throughout his career. Now, at a pivotal moment in defining his legacy as President, he is receiving conflicting advice from his closest and most trusted advisers — his eldest children — as he strategizes his next move after losing the election.
While his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are gung-ho, leading the charge for the President to stay in the fight, daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump has emerged as someone looking for a way for the President to save face as he considers his next steps, sources tell CNN.
Differing approaches have emerged amongst the Trump siblings: Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are telling their father to aggressively fight to the end, echoing baseless claims that the election has been rigged and the outcome should change.
Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, are weighing a different political calculus.
The couple doesn't believe
legal battles will change the election's outcome. Nevertheless they are advocating for a more measured approach, to let the legal fight and recounts continue to ensure future election integrity, while allowing them to appear sensitive to Trump, a source familiar with the situation said.
Ivanka Trump has offered a more calibrated message to her father, asking him whether it is worth damaging his legacy, and potentially his businesses, to continue his refusal to concede. She is privately realistic about the President's loss, a source told CNN, but she also knows that her entire future — now more than ever — is tied to her father's, and must be handled delicately.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment to CNN on the matter. A spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr. declined to comment.