Ivanka Trump, Keeping Low Profile After White House Scrutiny, Marks Birthday in Miami

ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Ivanka Trump

After four years of scrutiny — and scandal and controversy and a few big political wins — while advising dad Donald Trump in the White House, Ivanka Trump has embraced a very low profile since the end of his administration in January.

But she made something of an exception as she celebrated her birthday last week in Florida.

Ivanka turned 40 on Saturday, marking the milestone in the Miami area with a group of girlfriends from around the country, sources say.

The group partied at the Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club in Surfside, near the apartment that Ivanka shares with husband Jared Kushner, 40, and their three children. She and her friends also dined al fresco at ZZ's, an exclusive private club in Miami's design district.

"Ivanka loves Miami, where has made a life of her own," one source tells PEOPLE. "She has some longtime good friends that she wanted to enjoy for this special birthday celebration."

Sources say the women toasted Ivanka with champagne and cake as they enjoyed the fall Florida weather. "Her mother, Ivana, has always enjoyed all-girl parties in New York and Miami, and Ivanka wanted to do the same thing," the source tells PEOPLE.

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For Ivanka's birthday on Saturday, another source said she planned to celebrate in quiet fashion with immediate family. (A spokeswoman did not comment to PEOPLE.)

Since her father left office in late January, in the wake of the Capitol riots by a pro-Trump mob, Ivanka has made only sporadic public appearances and played down speculation she was considering her own political career.

Her White House legacy — in which she became one of her dad's post prominent surrogates, while critics said she was unqualified for her position — still shadows her nonpartisan advocacy, however.

After Ivanka encouraged other to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in April, her social media comments filled with people opposed to vaccination or who were skeptical of the pandemic at all. Others took issue with her public support of the vaccine in light of how her father had publicly downplayed the virus.

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Ivanka and husband, another former senior Trump adviser who recently launched a new investment firm, moved to Florida after leaving the White House.

While the move south set off speculation that Ivanka might pursue her own run for office, aides said in February she would not challenge Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican.

In her first public appearance in Florida, in March, she volunteered at a food distribution site.