Tragic, Real-Life Details About Ivanka Trump

Being Donald Trump's daughter comes with some serious perks: riches, fame, connections, and status, to name a few. But the downsides are just as many, if not more, than the upsides of carrying the Trump name. No one knows this better than Ivanka Trump. She's arguably one of the most talked about women in the world. Some can't stand her because of who her father is, while others adore her for the same reason.

Ivanka dipped her toes into the tumultuous political waters of Washington, D.C., during her father's first presidential term, serving as an unpaid advisor to the president during this time. She took a lot of heat for her role, and when Donald's term ended, so did the eldest Trump daughter's dalliance with politics. Ivanka Trump appeared to be distancing herself from her father, especially as it became clear he was going to take another go at the presidency after losing to former President Joe Biden in 2020. In a statement, she assured the public that her love for her father remained unchanged, but that she was done with politics.

Ivanka's life has never really been normal. In interviews, she's been candid about this, but she's always insisted that, even though her father was a workaholic when she was a kid, he was always there for her when she needed him. "He always made us [her and her two brothers] his top priority," Ivanka told CNN in 2016. "It didn't mean he was home every night for dinner. He wasn't," she admitted. During a 2026 interview on "The Diary Of A CEO" podcast, Ivanka reiterated that her father and mother were never "absent" parents when host Steven Bartlett suggested as much. Ivanka might have more money and fame than she knows what to do with, but her life has been anything but a fairytale.

The reason for Donald Trump and Ivana Trump's divorce had a name: Marla Maples. Donald had an affair with Maples which became tabloid fodder once the tryst became public, and the nasty divorce that ensued had a big impact on Ivanka Trump. The public couldn't get enough of the drama, and the divorce got ugly, with Ivana alleging in a deposition that Donald had once raped her during the course of their marriage. She later walked back the claim, saying, "I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense," per ABC News.

As the messy divorce played out in public, Ivanka and her brothers were trying to come to terms with the fact that their parents were separating. She told People in 2016 that her parents tried to protect them from the media attention it was receiving. "We didn't have newspapers in the house for a significant period of time and the TV wasn't on when they weren't there. So they tried to mitigate the attention that that moment received," she said, adding that Donald and Ivana tried to help her and her siblings "through a difficult time."

Speaking to Steven Bartlett on "The Diary Of A CEO" podcast in 2026, Ivanka said that, as a 9-year-old girl, she didn't understand what it meant that her father had an affair. "I don't know what I thought," she admitted. "I think I was probably more scared than anything of the mob and the lights and the surprise of it all." She admitted that she had fears about what her life would look like with her parents no longer being together. "You start to wonder, 'Will I be loved? Will I be forgotten? What does this mean?'" she admitted.

As if having to deal with the heartbreak of her parents' divorce wasn't enough, Ivanka Trump also had to weather the unruly paparazzi who, unbelievably, were eager to get a 9-year-old girl's take on her parents' marital drama. In her book, "Golden Handcuffs: The Secret History of Trump's Women," Nina Burleigh wrote about how paparazzi gathered outside Ivanka's school and ambushed her with wildly inappropriate questions about her father. "Reporters waited outside the doors of [Ivanka's] private school, The Chapin School, snapping pictures and hollering questions, including whether Marla Maples' claim about Donald's bedroom skills was true," Burleigh wrote.

Ivanka opened up about the ordeal in her own book, "The Trump Card," admitting that she saw some of the tabloid headlines. "The worst was a New York Post cover photo of Marla Maples, a woman I'd never met, who was being talked about as my father's new girlfriend, claiming that she had spent the night with my father beneath a headline that shouted 'THE BEST SEX I EVER HAD!' Can you imagine?" she wrote.

According to Burleigh's book, Ivanka's teacher sent her home one day after the media maelstrom became too much for her and "she broke down in class one day." Speaking on "The Diary Of A CEO" podcast, Ivanka described the encounters with the paparazzi as "extremely combative and aggressive and totally unacceptable."

Ivanka Trump's journey with postpartum depression is well documented, thanks to her openness on the topic. Ivanka opened up about her journey with the condition during a 2017 episode of "The Dr. Oz Show." She admitted that all three of her pregnancies had been really easy, which made the lows after her kids were born that much harder to deal with. "It was a very challenging emotional time for me," Ivanka said, per ABC News, explaining that she suffered from postpartum depression with all three of her pregnancies.

"I felt like I was not living up to my potential as a parent, or as an entrepreneur, or as an executive," she explained. Ivanka said she didn't initially have any desire to share this with the public but realized it was important to shed light on it and raise awareness. "I consider myself a very hard-charging person, I'm ambitious, I'm passionate, I'm driven. But this is something that affects parents all over the country," she told Dr. Oz.

Ivanka has continued to speak about her mental health, telling "The Diary Of A CEO" podcast in April 2026 that she sought therapy after her mother, Ivana Trump's untimely death in 2022. "It's very challenging ... Losing a parent, it hits different, especially unexpectedly, especially sort of post-Covid, which, like, kind of robbed so many of us of so many years," she said, explaining that she and Ivana did not go through lockdown together because they were in different cities.

The thing about politics is that it's bound to show you who your true friends are. In Ivanka Trump's case, it turned out that she didn't have as many as she thought. Ivanka Trump's former best friend revealed plenty about the first daughter to the media, providing plenty more gossip to add to the list of rumors about Ivanka we can't ignore. Another former friend who publicly distanced herself from Ivanka during Donald Trump's first term was former first daughter Chelsea Clinton.

"I've not spoken to her since 2016," Clinton said on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" in 2020. "I have no interest in being friends with someone who is not only complicit, but actively taking part in this administration's everyday collision of cruelty and incompetence," she said. Clinton isn't the only friend Ivanka lost. Sources told the New York Post in 2022 that Ivanka's social circle shrunk considerably during her White House tenure, leading the first daughter to loathe the job. "Ivanka hated all the criticism and the threats, and was unhappy about how a lot of their friends turned their back on them," the source divulged, adding, "She's unhappy about becoming a political target."

Ivanka addressed losing friends due to politics during a 2025 episode of "The Skinny Confidential Him & Her" podcast, but described those who turned their backs on her as "acquaintances." "I definitely had some acquaintances who, you know, their politics diverged wildly from that of my father's," she explained. "They took things personally or got overly emotional."

Some of Donald Trump's cringiest comments about the women in his orbit are jaw-dropping, and Ivanka Trump is unfortunately included on this list. Former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, Miles Taylor, published a book, "Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump," in 2023, in which he alleged that the president made inappropriate sexual comments about his daughter to White House staff.

"Aides said he talked about Ivanka Trump's breasts, her backside, and what it might be like to have sex with her, remarks that once led John Kelly [then-White House chief of staff] to remind the president that Ivanka was his daughter," Taylor wrote. He also alleged that some White House aides told him the president surmised "what it might be like to have sex with her." Of course, these were just allegations that were impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, but given Trump's past public comments about Ivanka, believing Taylor's allegations weren't that far of a stretch.

In 2004, Trump gave controversial radio host Howard Stern permission to call Ivanka "a piece of a**." He also discussed the size of his daughter's breasts with Stern on another occasion, telling him, "She's actually always been very voluptuous." While appearing on "The View" in 2006, the future president said his daughter had "a very nice figure," adding, "I've said if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her." In a 2015 Rolling Stone interview, he said, "She's really something, and what a beauty, that one. If I weren't happily married and, ya know, her father ..." No doubt these comments have been embarrassing for Ivanka, to say the least.

Thanks to her decision to join her father in the White House during his first term, Ivanka Trump racked up plenty of controversial moments. This damaged her image and her reputation. Two years into Donald Trump's first term, Ivanka had become so unpopular that she had to shut down her eponymous fashion brand. While the line saw an uptick in sales after Donald became president, it quickly fell as his popularity waned, and some retailers stopped stocking the clothes because they were no longer selling. The line's spokesperson insisted the fashion brand wasn't closing its doors because of poor sales figures. "It has nothing to do with the performance of the brand and is based solely on Ivanka's decision to remain in Washington indefinitely," a spokesperson said in a statement, per the BBC.

This was but the beginning of Ivanka's woes caused by her father. While she spent a considerable amount of time trying to tame the unruly politician during his first term by trying to soften his brash comments and jaw-dropping conduct, Donald's actions started to increasingly affect Ivanka's reputation. In fact, there were signs early on that his presidency wasn't going to do Ivanka any favors. A 2016 Cosmopolitan poll found that women aged between 18 to 34 didn't think highly of Ivanka at all, with only 28% saying they liked her.

Of course, it was after her father's reelection bid failed that things really went downhill for Ivanka. She and her brothers, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, got dragged into Donald's fraud trial, and Ivanka was also questioned by the January 6 Committee, which investigated the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol.

In July 2022, Ivana Trump was found dead in her home. Ivana's official cause of death was revealed to have been from severe injuries she suffered after a bad fall. The Trump family released a statement informing the public of Ivana's death, which read, "Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend," per ABC News. Ivanka took to X to pay tribute to her mother, penning, "Heartbroken by the passing of my mother. Mom was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny. She lived life to the fullest — never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance. I will miss her forever and will keep her memory alive in our hearts always."

Speaking on "The Diary Of A CEO" podcast in April 2026, Ivanka opened up about her mother's death and how devastating it had been for her, becoming emotional as she spoke of Ivana. Ivanka praised her mother for setting a great example for her. "My mother served as an unbelievable role model for me," she said, praising Ivana's grit and determination when it came to raising her kids and building her own career. "She taught me a lot about ... bringing intention to what you do," Ivanka said.

Aside from having to deal with the pressure of her father's presidency during his first term, Ivanka Trump also had to contend with the fact that her husband, Jared Kushner, had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Kushner kept the diagnosis, which he received in 2019, under wraps, only speaking publicly about it for the first time in his memoir, "Breaking History: A White House Memoir." Kushner recalled traveling on Air Force One when his doctor delivered the life-changing news, telling him that surgery was his best option and that he had to get it done as soon as possible. Kushner tried to distract himself from the diagnosis with work.

While his cancer was treated successfully in 2019, it returned in 2022. Ivanka said on "The Diary Of A CEO" podcast that Kushner received the news shortly before her mother's death. "Our life was in flux," she said, but she also acknowledged that it gave both of them a new outlook on life, adding, "All of these challenges remind you how finite and how precious every moment of this life we live are."

Few will ever forget July 13, 2024, when Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt near Butler, Pennsylvania. While Americans were horrified, it was an even more terrifying moment for the president's family, and during an interview on "The Diary Of A CEO" podcast, Ivanka Trump revealed that she saw it happen in real time on TV, and two of her kids were with her as she watched it unfold. She immediately removed them from the area with the television to keep them from seeing what was happening. "It was incredibly difficult," she admitted, but added that, in that moment, she was convinced that her father had not been fatally wounded. "I was horrified and I was scared and I was protective of my children, but I also didn't believe the worst possible outcome had transpired," she shared.

Like the rest of the Trump family, Ivanka issued a statement on Instagram after Donald survived the assassination attempt. She thanked the Secret Service for protecting her father and extended her gratitude toward the public for their support. She ended her statement with, "I love you Dad, today and always."

Rumors have been swirling for years that Ivanka Trump and her half-sister, Tiffany Trump, aren't exactly besties. In 2017, archived conversations between Donald Trump and radio show host Howard Stern resurfaced, indicating that Ivanka and her brothers weren't exactly thrilled that they had to share the Trump inheritance with Tiffany and would rather see her not receive any money at all.

Former Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen, didn't help the chatter when he released his book, "Disloyal: A Memoir," in 2020, and alleged that Ivanka had said terrible things about Tiffany behind her back. Cohen accused Ivanka of "casual cruelty" toward her younger sister, alleging that she "jealously guarded her position as Trump's favorite and surrogate, even at the expense of her vulnerable younger sister." Unnamed sources who spoke to People in 2023 claimed Ivanka and Tiffany used to have a fraught relationship but that it changed for the better amid Donald Trump's legal woes. "They used to not get along but now they're bonded over their shared trauma of being the most hated kids in America," the source alleged.

Ivanka never publicly indicated that she didn't like Tiffany. In fact, she told People in 2016 that they got along swimmingly, despite living apart for most of their lives. "We would see each other on all of the holidays and talk to each other frequently," Ivanka told the outlet. "She's my little sister! I've been close to Tiffany her whole life, and I really love her."