Emotion overtook Ivanka Trump during a wide-ranging interview as she reflected on the people who shaped her life, revealing a rare glimpse of vulnerability while discussing family, loss, and personal hardship.
According to the New York Post, while speaking on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast, Trump became visibly emotional when talking about her late mother, Ivana Trump, and her grandmother, Marie Zelníčková, who still lives with her family in Florida.
“My grandmother cooked every meal,” she said. “She’s unbelievably nurturing.”
Trump explained that her grandmother, affectionately called “Babi,” helped raise her and her brothers and now plays a central role in the lives of her own children.
“It’s a blessing to have her in our home and living with us,” she said, adding that she values the stories Babi shares. “Her telling her stories and stories of my mother, who they sadly didn’t get to know.”
That realization — that her children never had the chance to know their grandmother — proved especially difficult. Trump paused during the interview, asking for a tissue as she tried to compose herself.
“I have a lot of love for this woman,” she said through tears. “This doesn’t happen to me often.”
“She taught me so much about love,” she added. “It’s been hard to see her now as she struggles.”
Her reflections on her mother brought another wave of emotion. Ivana Trump died in 2022 at age 73 following a fall at her New York home.
“My mother taught me a lot about bringing intention to what you do,” she said. “Sorry.”
“I’m trying not to cry again,” she continued, as she was shown childhood photos.
“She lived a good life,” Trump said. “She was very joyful.”
“Losing a parent. It hits differently, you know, especially unexpectedly, especially sort of post-COVID, which kind of robbed so many of us of so many years.”
Trump noted that during the pandemic, she was in Washington while her mother remained in New York, adding, “We really keep her memory alive.”
The interview also touched on other deeply personal moments, including her husband Jared Kushner’s battle with thyroid cancer.
She said she turned to therapy after leaving Washington in 2020, as her family navigated a period of uncertainty.
“I had just left Washington. Our life was in flux. Jared was diagnosed with thyroid cancer for a second time, and then my mother passed,” she said.
Trump also recalled watching the attempted assassination of her father, President Donald Trump, unfold on television while she was with her children.
“The televisions were on, so I saw it almost immediately,” she said. “It was almost real time, before he stood back up.”
“I was horrified, and I was scared, and I was protective of my children.”
As she watched him leave the stage, she said she felt a sense of certainty.
“I just knew it wasn’t his time.”
Trump added that she has chosen to forgive the attacker.
“Forgiveness is a difficult thing in this regard, but I think you have to,” she said, adding, “His living was a blessing.”
Reflecting on the series of challenges her family has faced, Trump said the experiences have changed her outlook.
“You can’t take things for granted in life, and I’ve learned that in numerous ways,” she said. “When my mom passed prematurely, when my husband had a scare with cancer.”
“You just can’t take anything for granted.”
