'I Was Horrified': Ivanka Trump Breaks Down in Tears Recalling Watching Her Father Donald Being Shot 'in Real Time' During Assassination Attempt
Ivanka Trump got emotional when recalling the assaassination attempt on her father.
April 13 2026, Published 2:54 p.m. ET
Ivanka Trump described the horror of watching her father, Donald Trump get shot on live TV in a failed 2024 assassination attempt, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The shaken first daughter said she was at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster when chaos erupted on the TV screen, and she scrambled to shield her young children as the chilling footage unfolded.
'I Saw It Almost Immediately'
Ivanka Trump recalled watching her father get shot on live TV.
"I was in Bedminster, New Jersey, and there was a lot of commotion, and the televisions were on, so I saw it almost immediately," Ivanka told host Steven Bartlett on his Diary of a CEO podcast.
She clarified that it wasn't her own home, noting she doesn't usually "love watching television," but she was by the pool near the club's bistro on the sunny Saturday afternoon of July 13, 2024, when Donald was speaking at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
"It was almost real time. It was before he had stood back up that I had seen what was transpiring, and two of my children were there. So, you know, my first reaction was to turn them away," Ivanka explained about trying to shield two of the three kids she shares with husband Jared Kushner from the nightmare that was going down.
"But it was incredibly difficult," the former fashion designer recalled while near tears.
'I Knew That He Was Fine'
Ivanka Trump said she instinctively knew that her dad survived the assassination attempt.
"Interestingly, I knew in real time, in that moment, that he was fine. Like, I just knew that it wasn't his time," Ivanka remembered thinking.
"So, I was horrified, and I was scared, and I was protective of my children, but I also...I didn't believe that the worst possible outcome had transpired. Thank God. And thank God it hadn't," she added, pausing to compose herself.
Ivanka Trump 'Felt So Incredibly Lucky' Her Dad Was 'Protected'
Ivanka Trump was able to reunite with her dad hours after the assassination attempt.
Ivanka recalled how she was able to reunite with her father hours after the attack, since he had left that morning from Bedminster and returned there after leaving the hospital, where he was treated for an ear wound where the bullet from would-be assassin Thomas Crooks' rifle struck him.
Crooks was neutralized shortly after firing off several rounds by a member of the Secret Service counter-sniper team.
"Jared and I stayed up, and we met his car as he was pulling in, and I just feel like just incredibly lucky that he was protected on that day," Ivanka recounted.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
'We Were So Fortunate That Day'
Ivanka Trump said the attack on her dad gave her a new recognition of how short life is.
Ivanka went on to reflect on how she lost her beloved mother, Ivana Trump, at age 73 after she suffered an accidental fall at her home in July 2022, as well as Kushner's 2019 diagnosis with early-stage thyroid cancer.
"When my mom passed prematurely, when my husband had a scare with cancer, you know, all of these challenges that remind you how finite and how precious every moment of this life we live are make you realize you just can't take anything for granted, she told Bartlett.
"And we were so fortunate that day that this was a failed attempt to take his life, not a realized one. But I think you recommit to sort of love and connection and to a recognition of how short our time here on earth is and how you have to value it," Ivanka added about how the attempted assassination changed her world.
