Chelsea Clinton says ex-friend Ivanka Trump ‘went to the dark side’
“She is not the person I called when I was curious about something for my kids or if I was debating a life decision, but we were definitely friends”
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea Clinton has said that her friendship with Ivanka Trump ended when “she went to the dark side”.
Ms Clinton was interviewed on Bravo’s What Happens Live with Andy Cohen alongside her mother, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Host Andy Cohen asked the younger Ms Clinton about her relationship with the daughter of former president Donald Trump, whom her mother notably ran against and lost to in the 2016 election.
“We were friends,” Ms Clinton said of Ms Trump. “She is not the person I called when I was curious about something for my kids or if I was debating a life decision, but we were definitely friends ... and then she went to the dark side.”
She told Mr Cohen that she most recently spoke to Ms Trump in November 2016 after her mother lost the election.
Ms Trump and Ms Clinton were publically friendly until the 2016 campaign. Ms Trump served as a senior advisor to the president in the Trump administration, which has been repeatedly blasted by the Clintons.
In October 2020, Ms Clinton said on Bravo that she chose to end the relationship with Ms Trump because she had “no interest in being friends with someone who is not only complicit but actively taking part in this administration’s everyday collision of cruelty and incompetence”.
“I don’t think [Ivanka and Mr Trump] are the same by any standard,” Ms Clinton said at the time. “But I think she’s more than complicit. I don’t want to be friends with someone like that.”
At the start of 2016, both Chelsea and Hillary Clinton talked to People magazine about their respective dynamic with the Trump family and Chelsea said she’d “never had a relationship with Mr Trump”.
“My relationship has always been with Ivanka and certainly I do believe that friendship is more important than politics. I would never hold anyone accountable for what their parents or anyone else in their family said or did,” she added at the time. “I see Ivanka as Ivanka.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments