Ivanka Trump‘s mask slipped, baring her vulnerable side and revealing the moments that almost broke her in a new interview.
The Planet Harvest co-founder is the latest guest on “The Diary Of A CEO” podcast, where she discussed topics such as living in the glare of Donald Trump’s two presidencies and personal trials that shaped her outlook on life and led her to therapy.
The biggest loss she endured was the passing of her mother, Ivana Trump, in July 2022. Ivana and Trump were married from 1977 to 1992. They also shared sons Don Jr. and Eric Trump. Trump’s affair with actress Marla Maples, whom he wed in 1993, played a role in the relationship’s demise.
The 73-year-old tragic suffered a fatal fall down stairs inside her Manhattan townhome. “She was extraordinary,” Ivanka told host Steven Bartlett while looking at a photo of her adolescent self and her mother.
The moment briefly shattered her stoic facade, leaving her wiping tears from her face before regaining her composure and noting, “She lived a good life, though. You know, I tell myself, my mom, she really lived, she had fun.”
“She taught me a lot about, you know, the presence that I talk about, about just bringing intention into what you do,” said Ivanka, fondly reflecting on her mother and dabbing away tears. “She was very herself, and she was very joyful, and she loved to dance, and she loved to play, and so she lived, she lived a good life.”
Trump echoed similar remarks four years ago. “She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life,” he wrote on Truth Social. Ivanka confessed that the grief of losing a parent “hits different,” but that the lessons she learned from Ivanka continue to influence her.
She and her husband, Jared Kushner, share sons Joseph and Theodore and daughter Arabella. The businesswoman describes herself as a “lioness,” ensuring “they’re exposed to all the elements of her [Ivana] that were amazing and share the stories… to stand guard of the passing on of, you know, challenges she had and struggles.”
A skeptic of Ivanka’s grief remarked, “So you let your father bury her in a forgotten corner of one of his country clubs yo get a tax break on the property?” Her mother’s grave is located at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Another said, “I’d be upset too if my Dad buried my Mum on his Golf Course!”
Someone else wrote, “Don’t be fooled by the crocodile tears! This woman and her husband are only interested in how much they can scam out of the White House connection to line their pockets! She is as morally bankrupt as her father!”
“What Donald did to her is unforgivable,” noted a fourth person about Ivanka’s father and his mistreatment of her mother, Ivana. “Her documentary shows she has a very hidden past as a child and what happened to her.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Ivanka looks back on Kushner’s thyroid cancer diagnoses. He underwent a second surgery for the disease a month after Ivana’s passing.
“I’m really good at being tough… at kind of compartmentalizing,” said Ivanka, admitting the double blows forced her to “look inward,” even seeking help from a therapist as a tool.
A critic quipped, “She needs to talk about her deranged dad’s mental health.” Another person commented, “Wow, last ditch effort to save her daddy. feel sorry for ivanka. she does actually have ‘feelings’.
Some people suspect the podcast appearance could be the launch of long campaign positioning Ivanka for a presidential run. A speculation reads, “I figured this years ago. Which is why she distanced herself and sort of disappeared. She’s the best choice they got, but both of her names are toxic.”
She and Kushner stepped away from White House gigs in 2021. However, her husband continues to work as a roving special envoy representing the United States in negotiations with nations such Iran and Ukraine.
