Ivanka Trump "Proud" of Dad Donald Trump Over His Presidential Run, But It's Also "Complicated" for Her

The 33-year-old businesswoman and former Celebrity Apprentice co-star made her comments at Fortune Most Powerful Women summit in Washington on Oct. 14

By Corinne Heller Oct 14, 2015 8:40 PMTags
Ivanka TrumpPaul Morigi/Getty Images for Fortune/Time Inc

Ivanka Trump, the potential future First Daughter of the United States, has mixed feelings about father Donald Trump's presidential bid.

The 69-year-old Republican real estate and business mogul had announced his candidacy, his first bid to become the U.S. leader, in a speech in June and Ivanka, who is 33 and has followed in her dad's footsteps in the business world, spoke at the podium at the event. She talked about his presidential bid at the Fortune Most Powerful Women summit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

"Are you happy your father is running for president?" moderator and Fortune Senior Editor at Large Pattie Sellers asked.

"That's a complicated question," Ivanka replied. "Um, so, 'happy' is an interesting word."

"I'm incredibly proud of him," she said, adding, "As a citizen, I love what he's doing. As a daughter, it's obviously more complicated because the level of interest and scrutiny is beyond anything I've ever experienced and I think, that's, I guess, to be expected."

As of Wednesday, Donald remains the frontrunner among his fellow Republican candidates, although a recent poll by Fox News shows the margin between him and runner-up Ben Carson to be just 1 percent.

Ivanka, who supported Republican contender Mitt Romney in the 2012 election, works with Donald at The Trump Organization and had had for years starred with him and her brothers Eric Trump, 31, and Donald Trump, Jr., 37, on NBC's The Apprentice. Their mother is his first wife, former model Ivana Trump, 66.

"He is an unbelievable leader," Ivanka said. "He's an unbelievable, um, businessman and I've seen it time and time again, the people who work with us and for us are incredibly passionate about what they do and committed to his standard of excellence and he helps them create their own bar, which is higher than he even sets for them, so he really empowers people."

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Ivanka, who is pregnant with her and husband Jared Kushner's third child, said her dad was an "exceptional" leader and an "unbelievable" parent.

"I think now, more than ever, having children of my own, I think, you know, when I was 15, I was a little less appreciative. Now I realize, it's really hard. It's really hard to raise your kids with the right values and to give them the right moral compass and to instill in them a sense of drive and work ethic and passion for whatever it is that they want to do," she said. "So I feel very grateful to have had the parents I had...I'm amazed by him."

Donand and NBC had earlier this year cut ties following controversial comments he made about Mexican immigrants. The network also canceled plans to air the Miss USA beauty pageant, which was co-owned by his organization at the time.

"He says what he is thinking, so whether you disagree or you agree, I think people appreciate the candor of his dialogue, that his accessibility, his willingness to talk about really complicated issues in a way that other people are not so willing to talk about," Ivanka said. "I think everyone can appreciate the fact that he's creating dialogue around some very real issues facing this country."

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