A History of Kim Kardashian and Ivanka Trump's Close Friendship

Kim Kardashian Comments on Ivanka Trump's Taylor Swift Themed Cake

Kim Kardashian wasn't exactly endorsing Arabella Kushner's Taylor Swift-themed cake itself, mind you. But the SKIMS founder didn't hold back from passing along a sweet sentiment to the 13-year-old's mom, Ivanka Trump.

Hence Kim's friendship with Ivanka continuing to inch its way toward matter-of-factness by way of her July 17 birthday greeting for Arabella on Ivanka's Instagram—which was only the latest out-in-the-open display of affection between the two.

But ever since Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner facilitated Kim's first meeting at the White House in 2018 to discuss criminal justice reform with President Donald Trump—who won the 2024 presidential election Nov. 5, becoming only the second U.S. president ever to win non-consecutive terms—much attention has been paid to the ladies' social interactions.

With Kim being based in Los Angeles and Ivanka in New York, the pair—jet-setters though they both are—wouldn't have been regulars in each other's social circles.

Though, really, they started bonding in the likeliest of settings.

Though, as Ivanka shared with People at the time, no Met Gala schmoozing trumped getting to meet Idina Menzel—Frozen's Queen Elsa herself!—as far as Arabella was concerned.

But it stands to reason that she and Kim—both moms, business owners and scions of particularly hard-charging families—would have plenty to keep in touch about.

So by the time Kim started law school in 2018 and became invested in the cause of Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense, she knew who to call to get the president's ear. (Trump did end up commuting Alice's sentence and issued a full pardon for her in 2020.)

Ivanka had a prime seat next to her fellow October birthday girl when Kim celebrated her 43rd last fall at Beverly Hills hotspot Funke.

"So blessed to have hit the jackpot of friends!" Kim captioned her carousel of pics from the night, including one snap with Ivanka, a move that was widely commented upon as an endorsement of her pal's return to the celebrity world she used to organically operate in before her father became president.

While Ivanka and Jared aren't exactly hermits in their adopted hometown of Miami, Kim's intimate soiree provided her an opportunity to hobnob with Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez, as well as Hailey Bieber, Kimora Lee Simmons and other Kardashian family members.

When Ivanka shared photos from their glam night out, Kim didn't comment but tossed up a "like."

Kim went on to wish Jared a happy 43rd birthday on Instagram Jan. 14, commenting on the family photos Ivanka shared in her husband's honor, "Cutest pics ever!!!!"

With no sign of a salutation from Kim on Ivanka's Nov. 4 post detailing the life lessons she'd like to immerse herself in now that (as of October 30) she's 43, the most recent public communique from Kim was the birthday wish for Arabella, who was treated to a heart-shaped cake sporting a "Blank Space" lyric in icing: "Boys only want love when it's torture."

Ivanka wrote, "Best cake for my favorite swiftie."

And while she did stay off the campaign trail for the most part, the once-again incoming first daughter attended the Republican National Convention in July to watch her father formally accept his party's nomination for president and was at Mar-a-Lago with Jared on the night of Nov. 5 for his victory speech.