Ivanka Trump’s appearance on Steven Bartlett’s ‘The Diary of a CEO’ podcast turned into an emotional moment for her as she recalled some tough times. Ivanka talked about her late mom Ivana Trump’s passing, dad Donald trump’s assassination attempt and husband Jared Kushner’s cancer diagnosis. “I wanted to make sure I’m really good at being tough,” a teary-eyed Ivanka Trump said in the podcast.
Ivana Trump died at the age 73 in 2022. An emotional Ivanka spoke about losing her and said, “Losing a parent, it hits different. Especially unexpectedly, especially post-COVID because it robbed us of so many years.”
What is it like to grow up in one of the most talked about families in the world?
Well, today’s guest is Ivanka Trump – someone who’s lived much of her life in the public eye, from childhood through business, and all the way to the White House.
From a young age, her life was… pic.twitter.com/ElynuBcoJZ
— Steven Bartlett (@StevenBartlett) April 9, 2026
“She was extraordinary,” said Ivanka talking about late mom Ivana, saying that she lived a good life. “My mom, she really lived. She had fun. She taught me a lot. She was very herself. She was very joyful and she loved to dance and loved to play, so she lived a good life,” Ivanka said during the podcast.
Ivanka looked back at her mother’s parenting style and recalled, “I took the time to think about her, not through the eyes of the child who idolized her but through the eyes of an adult who saw her clearly. Her strengths, her challenges and I think about my role as a parent to my own children is to sort of stand guard to make sure they’re exposed to all the elements of her that were amazing and share the story.”
“We really keep her memory alive,” Ivanka said who regularly shares tributes for her mother on special occasions on her social media handles.
Ivanka also talked about “some of the challenges” around husband Jared’s health. Jared Kushner was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2019, and he had to undergo a surgery just weeks after Ivana’s death in 2022. “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,” Ivanka recalled.
Steven Bartlett also asked Ivanka about the time there was an assassination attempt on her dad in 2024. “I was in Bedminster, New Jersey. There was a lot of commotion. The televisions were on, so I saw it almost immediately. It was almost real time,” Ivanka said.
.@IvankaTrump on growing up with @POTUS:
“Never once did he not pick up [the phone]. Sometimes, his office would be filled with people…and he’d always put me on speakerphone, and start the conversation by telling everyone how I got great grades—and I’d start to blush.” pic.twitter.com/ubZYvoZKoB
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 9, 2026
“It was before he had stood back up that I had seen what was transpiring, and two of my children were there. My first reaction was to turn them away. It was incredibly difficult. Interestingly, I knew in real time in that moment that he was fine. I just knew it wasn’t his time. I was horrified and scared and protective of my children, but I also didn’t believe the worst possible outcome had transpired. And thank God it hadn’t,” recalled Ivanka Trump.
Ivana and Donald began dating in the year 1976, when she was a top model and Trump was a business tycoon. They married a few months later at Marble Collegiate Church in New York City. Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka and Eric Trump are Donald Trump and his first wife, late Ivana’s children. After his divorce from Ivana, Trump went on to marry Marla Maples. They soon divorced and are parents to Tiffany Trump. Donald Trump has been married to Melania Trump for over 21 years and they are parents to 20-year-old Barron.
