Ivanka Trump: My Dad Told Me Two Weeks Before He Ran For President!
Ivanka Trump discusses her upbringing in a famous family, her business career, four years working in the White House, and her current focus on family and new ventures including Planet Harvest. She reflects on learning resilience through challenges, finding her own path despite public scrutiny, and choosing not to return to politics to prioritize her children.
Summary
In this extensive interview, Ivanka Trump provides rare insights into her extraordinary life journey. She begins by discussing her upbringing with accomplished parents, describing how her grandmother Bebe was a central nurturing figure who taught her unconditional love. Despite growing up privileged, she faced early challenges including intense media scrutiny during her parents' highly publicized divorce when she was nine, which taught her not to trust easily but also made her resilient.
She describes building her own business empire, starting in real estate where she leveraged being underestimated as an advantage, then expanding into fashion and jewelry. Her brand reached $800 million in annual sales before she shut it down to serve in the White House. The decision to join her father's administration came just two weeks after learning of his presidential run, requiring enormous personal sacrifice.
During her four years in government, she focused on policy achievements including doubling the child tax credit, combating human trafficking, and workforce development. However, she chose not to return for the second term, prioritizing her children and acknowledging the personal cost of public service. She discusses the emotional impact of the assassination attempt on her father and her mother's unexpected death in 2022.
Currently, she's focused on new ventures including Planet Harvest, which addresses food waste, and various real estate and technology investments. Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes the importance of authenticity, finding signal in noise, and living according to one's values rather than external expectations.
About this episode
She built an $800 million business…but sacrificed it all when her father became President, now Ivanka Trump tells her story! Ivanka Trump is a world-renowned businesswoman, real estate developer, and entrepreneur who served as Advisor to the President during Trump’s first administration. She was previously Executive Vice President in the Trump Organization, and is the author of 2 New York Times bestsellers, including ‘Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success’. She explains: ▪️The negotiation tactic used to close billion-dollar deals ▪️Why she permanently stepped back from the Trump campaign ▪️How to build a billion-dollar brand from total scratch ▪️Why most leaders fail to adapt to the upcoming AI revolution ▪️Her mission to develop a pristine Mediterranean island in Albania Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:12 When You Realize You’re Different What Happens Next 00:05:24 What Her Mother Was Really Like Behind Closed Doors 00:11:27 The Key Difference That Shaped Who She Became 00:15:23 What Donald And Ivana Trump’s Divorce Really Meant For Her 00:18:07 The Reality Of Being Trump’s Daughter What People Get Wrong 00:23:16 How Do You Find Yourself Surrounded By Power And Fame 00:30:38 Why Being Underestimated Became Her Biggest Advantage 00:32:39 What She Actually Looks For When Hiring And Why It Matters 00:37:30 Why She Walked Away From Fashion For Government 00:40:46 What Really Happened When Trump Decided To Run 00:46:04 Trump Running For President What Changed Everything 00:48:33 Ads 00:50:44 Did She Ever Think Her Father Would Actually Do It 00:54:06 Was Leaving The White House A Relief Or Something Else 00:57:48 Was Anyone Truly Prepared For Life Inside The White House 00:59:24 What The Assassination Attempt Changed Forever 01:07:01 What Life Looks Like After Stepping Away From Politics 01:10:44 Ads 01:14:05 How Therapy Changed The Way She Sees Everything 01:20:09 The Loss Of Her Mother And What It Taught Her 01:26:08 The 3 Rules She Believes Define Success And Happiness 01:28:17 What Planet Harvest Is And Why It Could Matter More Than You Think Enjoyed the episode? Share this link and earn points for every referral - redeem them for exclusive prizes: https://doac-perks.com Follow Ivanka: Instagram - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/8tOoNMr Facebook - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/69wVEv5 X - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/9z3Vx7h You can purchase ‘Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success’, here: https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/F9lFRYu The Diary Of A CEO: ◼️Join DOAC circle here - https://doaccircle.com/ ◼️Buy The Diary Of A CEO book here - https://smarturl.it/DOACbook ◼️The 1% Diary is back - limited time only: https://bit.ly/3YFbJbt ◼️The Diary Of A CEO Conversation Cards (Second Edition): https://g2ul0.app.link/f31dsUttKKb ◼️Get email updates - https://bit.ly/diary-of-a-ceo-yt ◼️Follow Steven - https://g2ul0.app.link/gnGqL4IsKKb Sponsors: Wispr - Get 14 days of Wispr Flow for free at https://wisprflow.ai/steven Shopify - https://shopify.com/bartlett Pipedrive - https://pipedrive.com/CEO Vivobarefoot - https://vivobarefoot.com/DOAC with code STEVENB15 for15% off
Key Insights
- Ivanka learned only two weeks before her father's 2015 announcement that he planned to run for president, despite his occasional public mentions of the possibility over decades
- She shut down her $800 million annual revenue fashion business to comply with government ethics requirements when joining the White House
- Her grandmother Bebe was the primary caretaker who cooked every meal and provided unconditional love during her childhood while her parents were building their careers
- The intense media scrutiny during her parents' divorce when she was nine, including reporters waiting outside her school, taught her early not to trust people easily
- She deliberately uses being underestimated as an advantage, believing it makes opponents less prepared while motivating her to work twice as hard
- She views politics as a 'dark world' with too much negativity that conflicts with her natural disposition, leading her to step away despite policy achievements
- During the assassination attempt on her father, she was watching almost in real-time but instinctively knew 'it wasn't his time' and that he would survive
- She practices intentional living by choosing who to spend time with and what to focus on, rejecting the pursuit of balance in favor of alignment with priorities
- Her approach to handling criticism is inspired by how eagles respond to attacking crows - flying higher rather than fighting back until the critics 'fall off'
- She believes authenticity is crucial for entrepreneurs, stating 'when you're copying, you're losing' and emphasizing the need to find one's own path
- Her current venture Planet Harvest addresses the waste of 400 million pounds of perfect strawberries left in fields annually due to cosmetic specifications
- She emphasizes the importance of doing inner work and processing emotions rather than compartmentalizing, having sought therapy during particularly challenging periods
Topics
Transcript
She was extraordinary. My mother taught me a lot about just like bringing intention to what you do, bringing... And being the child of accomplished parents. Most people thought that I would lack the ambition, the preparedness. But my mother taught me that being underestimated is not a bad thing. It's a very powerful thing actually. And it almost always worked to the detriment of the person who underestimated me. From real estate to her own multi-million dollar fashion line, Ivanka Trump continues to carve her own path into the business world, succeeding at every turn. And then you learn two weeks before he announces, your father decides he wants to be president of the United States. Did you have…
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