Ivanka Trump broke down in tears as she revealed she sought professional mental health help after her mother Ivana’s sudden death.
The first daughter, 44, spoke on the Diary of a CEO podcast about her grief that her three children never got to know their grandmother and said she would ‘talk about her and start to cry, just like I’m still doing – but in a different way, like I was avoiding.’
She sought therapy after a devastating period in which her husband, Jared Kushner, underwent a second cancer surgery and Ivana died within weeks of each other.
‘I wanted to make sure I’m really good at being tough,’ Ivanka said.
Ivanka wept as she described how her grandmother, Babi, 99, now lives with the family in Miami. ‘It’s a blessing to have her in our home,’ she said, ‘telling her stories and stories of my mother, who they sadly didn’t get to know.’
‘Losing a parent – it hits different,’ she added, ‘especially unexpectedly, especially post-COVID because it robbed us of so many years.’
Ivana, 73, was found unconscious at the bottom of the stairs at her Manhattan home and died that same day in July 2022. At the time, Ivanka was living in Washington, DC.
Kushner had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer while working in the White House in 2019, and underwent a second surgery in August 2022.
Ivanka Trump broke down in tears recalling her late mother Ivana in a raw and emotional podcast appearance, revealing she sought professional mental health help after her tragic death
Ivanka Trump and her mother, Ivana Trump, attend the 25th Anniversary Party for Studio 54 in New York City on April 24, 2002
Ivana and Ivanka Trump attend Cooks for Kids II Benefit on November 1, 1994 in New York City
Donald and Ivana Trump
Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Barron Trump, Jared Kushner, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump are seen at the funeral of Ivana Trump on July 20, 2022 in New York City
Ivana, who married Donald Trump in 1977, was born in what is now the Czech Republic and built a high-profile career as a model and businesswoman in New York.
She and Donald had three children together – Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric – before divorcing in 1992.
Ivanka also discussed watching ‘in real time’ the harrowing assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.
‘I was horrified and I was scared, and I was protective of my children,’ she said.
But Ivanka said she realized somehow intuitively that her father would pull through as she watched secret service haul him to the ground after a bullet grazed his ear.
‘I didn’t believe that the worst possible outcome had transpired thank God,’ Ivanka said. ‘And thank God, it hadn’t.’
She said she saw him at around 2am as his returned from hospital to his Bedminster estate in New Jersey.
‘You can’t take things for granted in this life, and I’ve learned that in numerous ways,’ Ivanka added.
Ivanka also discussed watching ‘in real time’ the harrowing assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024
Trump grabs his ear after he was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania
She explained that she did not carry hatred for the people who had tried to harm her father – a second gunman attempted to shoot Trump at his golf club in Florida just months later.
‘What does that accomplish being negative towards the world?’ Ivanka said. ‘There’s a lot of sickness, and I think that forgiveness is a difficult thing but – his living was a blessing.’
Ivanka has rarely granted interviews since she stepped away from politics in 2022, instead keeping a low profile as she focused on family life.
Her husband still maintains a high-profile public life as Trump’s peace envoy in the Middle East – and is currently leading high-stakes negotiations with Iran alongside Vice President JD Vance and Steve Witkoff.
Ivanka said the couple’s three children children have been her priority as she built a quieter life away from the White House spotlight.
Her last major sit-down came on Lex Fridman’s podcast on July 2, 2024, where she discussed her decision to step back from politics – just 11 days before her father was shot in Butler
