Ivanka Trump revealed in a new interview that she was caught off guard by the “level of viciousness” that she and her family have faced in Washington, D.C., since her father, Donald Trump, was elected president.
“It is hard and there is a level of viciousness that I was not expecting,” the first daughter, 35, said on Fox News’ Fox & Friends on Monday, June 12. “I was not expecting the intensity of this experience. But this isn’t supposed to be easy. My father, and this administration, expects to be transformative.”
Ivanka continued, “I think some of the distraction and some of the ferocity I was a little blindsided by on a personal level. But for me, I’m trying to keep my head down, not listen to the noise and just work really hard to make a positive impact in the lives of many people.”
The businesswoman was asked how the president, 70, felt after watching former FBI Director James Comey‘s Senate testimony last week. “My father felt very vindicated in all the statements that he has been making and feels incredibly optimistic,” Ivanka said. (Trump abruptly fired Comey in May amid the FBI’s investigation into whether Russia interfered with the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.)
“We are really focused on why the American people elected Donald Trump as their president,” the fashion designer added.
During Monday’s interview, Ivanka also shut down reports that her husband, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, was involved in palace intrigue. “There is a 24-hour news cycle that gets fed by and is encouraged by lots of salacious details,” Ivanka said. “At the end of the day, we are all focused on the work, and that’s very true for Jared. He is somebody who just likes to get things done. So, he doesn’t get involved in all that.”
An Ivanka source recently told Us Weekly that the former model and Kushner, 36, often go toe-to-toe with the commander in chief. “[They] are a big influence on Donald and sometimes he takes other opinions into account and does something they disagree with,” the insider exclusively told Us.
