Ivanka Trump's Reported Reaction To This SNL Parody Proves She's As Insecure As Dad

"Saturday Night Live" has been poking fun at presidents for decades, from Chevy Chase playing a clumsy Gerald Ford to the "White Lotus" parody mocking Donald Trump's embarrassing fast-food habit. The weekend isn't complete without some sly political commentary from the ensemble cast. Most commanders-in-chief and their families have cheerfully endured the mocking, but others were more sensitive. Trump himself is naturally quite displeased with the show's unflattering portrayals of him, but more surprisingly, his older daughter Ivanka Trump was once rattled by one of their parodies too. 

In 2016, after she had been appointed as a special advisor to her father, "SNL" aired one of their frequent faux commercials for an Ivanka-branded fragrance called Complicit. Scarlett Johansson played the first daughter as a complete ice queen commanding attention in a ballroom, as the narrator referenced her misplaced loyalty to her father ("She probably should have bounced after the whole 'Access Hollywood' bus thing"). And, according to former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman, Ivanka wasn't happy.

In her memoir, "Unhinged: A Memoir of the Trump White House," the former "Apprentice" star dished that Ivanka once spent an entire staff meeting complaining about the insulting spoof. "We'd all been subject to 'SNL' attacks [...] many of us in that same week's show," she wrote. "But Ivanka would not stop talking about being ribbed. Like her father, Ivanka was thin-skinned and could not seem to take a joke." Donald was equally upset, reportedly even urging his daughter to leave D.C. to go and work for the Trump Organization instead. "He wanted Jared and Ivanka out of the White House," Manigault Newman revealed. "It hurt him when people attacked her. They were doing it to get to him, and it was working."

Once upon a time, Donald Trump and "Saturday Night Live" were super close. In his pre-presidential days, the legendary New Yorker even hosted the iconic sketch show, and had a laugh at his own expense as he promoted "Donald Trump's House of Wings" (forget, for now, that it became one of "SNL's" most awkward moments). Being lampooned for his massive ego though, well, that's another story. Ever since "SNL" began taking aim at his presidency, Trump has clapped back with dismissive social media comments. He decried it as "a bad show that's not funny or smart" on Truth Social in 2022, predicting that NBC would soon cancel "SNL" (its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2025 suggested otherwise).

Ivanka Trump is taking more of an active-ignoring approach. During the first Trump administration, she was put out at being called "complicit" in her dad's questionable behavior, reasoning, "If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and make a positive impact, then I'm complicit," on "CBS This Morning." Now, Ivanka has left the political sphere entirely and is happily engaged in parenthood, charity work, and Miami's society life. If she's still fuming over her family being parodied every Saturday night, the first daughter is not letting it show. In fact, Ivanka makes a point of demonstrating just how chill she is. A May 2025 Instagram post showed her looking serene on a sofa in her chic, minimalist living area. "Midweek mindset: Calm, clear, and committed...one focused morning at a time," she captioned it. Taking the high road seems to be working for her.