Ivanka Trump fights back tears as she describes impact of father’s legal battles on family, remembers ‘trailblazer’ mom

Ivanka Trump, who stayed away from Donald Trump’s hush money trial unlike her brothers, has finally spoken out about her father’s New York hush money conviction. Following his conviction on 34 felony charges in the Stormy Daniels hush money case , Ivanka posted a childhood picture of herself with her dad with the phrase “I love you dad”.

Ivanka Trump, 42, talked about her father’s protracted legal troubles and gave her explanation for withdrawing from the 2024 presidential campaign. (AP File Photo)

Appearing on a podcast episode with Lex Fridman, she also broke down in tears while speaking about her “impossibly glamorous” late mother Ivana.

Ivanka, 42, talked about her father’s protracted legal troubles and gave her explanation for withdrawing from the 2024 presidential campaign. She called the situation “painful”.

“On a human level, it’s my father and I love him very much, so it’s painful to experience, but ultimately, I wish it didn’t have to be this way,” Trump’s daughter replied when the host asked about the personal impact of her father’s legal battles.

Ivanka, who formerly served as an important player in the White House and on Trump’s campaign trail in the past, declared in 2022 that she would like to spend time with her family and children before going back into politics.

She informed Fridman that she made the decision in her capacity as a mom, stressing that “I’m not willing to make them (her kids) bear that cost.” Ivanka went on to call politics a “rough business” and said

“Politics is a pretty dark world,” she continued. “There’s a lot of darkness, a lot of negativity, and it’s just really at odds with what feels good for me as a human being.”

Ivanka’s remarks come after the announcement that Trump’s sentencing had been rescheduled. His sentencing was originally set for this Thursday, but the Supreme Court’s decision regarding presidential immunity caused it to be delayed until September 18.

In Trump’s hush money case, a group of twelve Manhattan jurors in a unanimous verdict in May found the former president guilty on all counts of fabricating financial records.

A number of witnesses testified in court throughout the trial, including Stormy Daniels, a former adult film star whose claimed sexual encounter with the former president. Trump was charged with hiding hush money payments intended to purchase Daniels’ silence ahead of the 2016 election.

Trump denounced the hush money verdict as “disgrace”.

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Ivanka calls mother Ivana ‘trailblazer’

On being asked if she misses her mother Ivana, who passed away in July 2022 at the age of 73, Ivanka became noticeably emotional, stating “so much”.

“It’s unbelievable how dislocating the loss of a parent is. And her mother lives with me still, my grandmother who helped raise us, so that’s very special,” she said while pausing to fight back tears.

She called her mother a “trailblazer” who was married to Trump from 1977 to 1990.

Ivana, as per her daughter, was an athlete, a fashion mogul, a real estate executive and builder.