What Ivanka Trump Didn't Say About Dad Donald In Rare Interview Is The Real Tea

While her brothers and sisters-in-law stump for their dad Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump has shown she's done with politics for good...well, almost. The former president's former advisor gave a rare interview on the "Lex Fridman Podcast" that aired on July 2. In it, she offered a number of candid thoughts on a wide range of issues from parenting to architecture. Naturally, the subject of the presidential race came up, and Ivanka revealed for the first time she plans to be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this month when her father accepts the nomination at the Republican National Convention. Beyond that, however, she won't be participating in political affairs. "Politics is ... a pretty dark world," Ivanka explained. "Like, there's a lot of darkness, a lot of negativity, and it's just really at odds with what feels good to me as a human being." 

Fridman sympathized, then asked Ivanka how she felt about her father's "legal turmoil" (which sounds better than "being found guilty in a hush money trial"). The former first daughter replied: "On a human level, it's my father and I love him very much, so it's painful to experience. But ultimately, I wish it didn't have to be this way." 

Ivanka could have taken the opportunity right then to defend her father against all the charges lobbed against him in his four criminal cases. She could have pointed fingers back at his accusers, or at the prosecution teams. But she didn't — and that silence spoke volumes.

If it had been Donald Trump Jr. or his fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle being interviewed on Lex Fridman's podcast, they no doubt would have defended Donald Sr. in the strongest possible terms. They might have cheered the Supreme Court's recent decision giving U.S. presidents immunity from prosecution for official acts and declared the former commander-in-chief an innocent martyr to the evil liberal mob. Not so Ivanka Trump. The words "witch hunt" and "lawfare" — terms that have been widely used by MAGA supporters — never crossed her lips in the full three-hour podcast. In fact, her "wish it didn't have to be this way" wording suggests she feels her father is responsible for his own legal headaches. Interviewer Lex Fridman quickly switched to safer subjects like Dolly Parton and jiu-jitsu, and Ivanka moved on without further comment. 

Ivanka, who was notably absent on the final day of her dad's hush money trial in May, also insisted she won't return to the White House even if Donald does. Her three children, she said, are her priority: "I know today the cost they would bear for me being all in ... and I'm not willing to make them bear that cost," she said. "I served for four years and feel so privileged to have done it. But as their mom, I think it's really important that I do what's right for them." 

Judging by these statements and her recent social media posts, which mostly show her spending time with her family, it seems clear Ivanka is determined to distance her image far from dad Donald — and to avoid revealing what she really thinks of his multiple scandals.