DAVID LETTERMAN: Thank you Paul. You walk into a 7-Eleven and you say, Triscuit me.
PAUL SHAFFER: Triscuit me.
DAVID LETTERMAN: I wonder what might happen? Our next guest is the Vice President of Development
and Acquisitions for the Trump Organization, please welcome the very lovely, Ivanka Trump,
ladies and gentlemen.
[♪Hall & Oates - Rich Girl♪]
DAVID LETTERMAN: Thank you very much for being on the program.
IVANKA TRUMP: Ohh, it's my pleasure.
DAVID LETTERMAN: I've, I've never met you, you're certainly lovely and thank you so much.
IVANKA TRUMP: I called my father actually around five minutes ago.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-hum.
IVANKA TRUMP: Right before coming on, to ask him if you'd be nice to me, and he said he
thinks so.
DAVID LETTERMAN: You know, you know just in the few ahh, words you've spoken, you sound
very much like your father.
IVANKA TRUMP: Do I?
DAVID LETTERMAN: And your, your manner of speech is very much like your father.
IVANKA TRUMP: People have told me that.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: And this is becoming increasingly I think ahh, noticeable in terms of the edisms,
the way we use our arms, the way we use our hands, so.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Ahh...
IVANKA TRUMP: I'm slowly morphing into him. Not too much I hope.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Oh Lord.
IVANKA TRUMP: Being, I have to be careful. But I'm still a woman.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Explain to us ahh, Development and Acquisitions, what does that do? It seems
like a very pivotal, a crucial role in the organization.
IVANKA TRUMP: Oh it sounds very important but at the end of the day, my father always
reminds us and we don't really need to be reminded, that it's him and then everyone
else.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-hum.
IVANKA TRUMP: So, while the title sounds very formal, but now in, in seriousness ahh, my
brothers and I ahh, work for him, we do anything really pertaining to real estate.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Right.
IVANKA TRUMP: So we have 33 projects that are going up all over the world, ahm, under
our direct control, so he's been great about allowing us to field a lot of the day to day
DAVID LETTERMAN: No, no I, I don't know ahh, how old you are, and I'm not gonna ask you,
how old you are, but you seem, you seem, well you certainly seem younger than me, ahh...
IVANKA TRUMP: It's okay, I'm 25.
DAVID LETTERMAN: It's a lot of responsibility for a person 25 years old. This, this is a
global ahh, circumstance and, and you ahh, are actually ahh...
IVANKA TRUMP: It it a lot of responsibility.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-hum.
IVANKA TRUMP: And I take it seriously what I do. I think, I think part of the reason
why I work so hard, is I know nothing in my formal education, yes I went to Wharton, yes
ahm, you know I grew up on construction sites, but at the end of the day, at 25, what do
I really know? But that's very much the ethos my dad has adopted in, with everyone within
the company.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Get in there and do it.
IVANKA TRUMP: He gives you a task, he says go do it, if you perform, you get another
one.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: So the greatest sort of validation I get through him is really increased workload.
It feels good.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Now what, what kind of a, what kind of a father ahh, was he? When you,
you, a young girl what, was he?
IVANKA TRUMP: Well I heard a Martha Stewart story going on out here before, so I was a
little worried we were going in that direction. But he is ahh, he is unconventional, unorthodox,
but ahm, he was a terrific father.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: I mean he was always there for me, whether I called from school, you know
at any, at any point in time, when I'd call him, he'd always put it, put me on the box,
connect me in, introduce me to how, whoever was in the room.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-huh.
IVANKA TRUMP: Whether it be a head of state or you know, some important banker. Tell them
how beautiful I was, which was very sweet.
And how well I was doing in school. So he was ahh, he was very cute.
DAVID LETTERMAN: When was it ever a, ahh, a problem in your life that your father was
Donald Trump, where the kids would make fun of you, oh your father is Donald Trump, and
look his name's on the building...
IVANKA TRUMP: Not really. Because not unlike my father, I have a tendency to fight back,
so.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uhm, uhm, that's good.
IVANKA TRUMP: I think ahh, people were a little bit, a little bit cautious about saying anything
to me.
DAVID LETTERMAN: And, and, and you're,your're on the TV show The Apprentice as well.
DAVID LETTERMAN: It's fun, sure
IVANKA TRUMP: You know and I had a lot of, I had a great time doing it but, generally
I mean, you can't buy that type of exposure. I look at our competition, and I look at other real estate developers, and I couldn't imagine on, you know marketing line item, what the real estate developers, and I couldn't imagine on, you know marketing line item, what the
cost of that sort of promotion would be.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Right.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Now, now, is that helpful in, in your line of work, in your father's
line of work to, to have a TV show? Or is it, does it, is, does it raise the impression
IVANKA TRUMP: Well it's fun first of all.
IVANKA TRUMP: You know and I had a lot of, I had a great time doing it but, generally
I mean, you can't buy that type of exposure. I look at our competition, and I look at other
real estate developers, and I couldn't imagine on, you know marketing line item, what the
cost of that sort of promotion would be.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Right.
IVANKA TRUMP: So it's incredible. He's really created this brand and this ability to sell
himself, that translates into higher dollars we're able to get on the salable real estate.
DAVID LETTERMAN: So that's, that's remarkable, it isn't, yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: It is. And I think it's part of my obligation as the next generation to
take advantage of that, as a vehicle. So it's given us this tremendous platform ahm, and
I'm, you know, gonna help grow it.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Now, now ahh, ahm, ahh, you have a, a tremendously important position,
ahh and, and the man at the top is your father.
IVANKA TRUMP: Uh-huh.
DAVID LETTERMAN: So does, does that mean you could be fired, or you could never be fired?
IVANKA TRUMP: Well it's interesting that you asked that. I think that if I ever got fired,
that's not something I worry about too much, because at the end of the day, if I got fired,
it won't be due to incompetence and it wouldn't be due to lack of work ethic.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-hum.
IVANKA TRUMP: It would be because I made hopefully a calculated risk and it didn't pay off. Ahm,
but it's funny, because increasingly especially with this show, I've started to hear his voice
everywhere I go. I'll be driving and I hear him come over the radio.
I'll be sitting on my couch typing on my computer and I'll hear him on the television. Just
a sort of this voice of God in the background. Ahm, it's actually kind of frightening as
a daughter, because you like recognize the voice, but you know, it takes a while to register.
So like when you're tuning out a parent, you know.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-hum.
IVANKA TRUMP: Ahm, and I was watching a teaser the other day for Larry King and I just sort
of looked up, and I hear Larry King asking him one question, which is, your children
are doing very well, but if they screwed up?
DAVID LETTERMAN: Sure.
IVANKA TRUMP: Would you fire them? Would you even hesitate?
And he goes, well interesting that you asked Larry, not only would I fire them, but I would
fire them like a dog.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Wow, wow.
IVANKA TRUMP: So I started cracking up, and I pick up the phone and I called him.
IVANKA TRUMP: And I basically said, well Dad, you know, I'm not totally shocked that you'd
fire us if we screwed up.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-hum.
IVANKA TRUMP: But did you have to add the like a dog? Like I'm not even sure that I
know what that means.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah, yeah, wow.
IVANKA TRUMP: Like the last time I fired my dog, ahh...
DAVID LETTERMAN: When did that, when you're growing up, did you have a dog?
IVANKA TRUMP: Ahm, I, I had two.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: I had two. They're both...
DAVID LETTERMAN: You ever had to let one go?
IVANKA TRUMP: No my mom got them.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Oh by gosh. Well, now what about this. Ahh, ahh, do, do you, do you ever
get to the point where your father, he's, he's my age by the way.
IVANKA TRUMP: Uh-huh.
DAVID LETTERMAN: And may be showing little signs of senility, and you think...
IVANKA TRUMP: See I have to mind myself here, because he will actually be watching. And
much like me right now, he has this for him, the next time he comes on.
DAVID LETTERMAN: It, it, it, it could be, you and your ahh, brothers get together, time
for dad to go. And so you... Is, you have a, do you have a plan to just kinda push him
out and take over?
IVANKA TRUMP: He will... Well ahh, I'd be kind of stupid to expose it right here.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: No. He actually was joking, several months ago, my younger brother just
joined us. Ahm, and we're all in my office and we're having a meeting, we're talking
about a deal we were working on. And my father comes down the hall, sort of just pops in,
and I've never seen, he was so energetic, he sort of popped in and popped out like a
kid. And jumps in and he goes, what is this, a mutiny?
DAVID LETTERMAN: Wow.
IVANKA TRUMP: And jumps out, and like runs down the hall.
DAVID LETTERMAN: So you see he's already thinking about it.
PAUL SHAFFER: Wow.
IVANKA TRUMP: So yeah...
DAVID LETTERMAN: That means, that means he's losing a step.
DAVID LETTERMAN: That's the way that works.
IVANKA TRUMP: It was ahh, it was definitely...
DAVID LETTERMAN: What, what about, what about, what about when he goes ahh, nuts and has
a, a feud with like Rosie or Barbara Walters or ahh, Martha Stewart, what ahh, does that
mean, do you ever go to him and say Dad, just shhh, shh, just shh, shh, leave it alone,
leave it alone.
IVANKA TRUMP: Well I mean, not any more than any daughter would say that to their father
in the course of life.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: But I think generally people always seemed shocked, when he reacts the
way he does. But he's consistent. If there's one thing my father is, it's consistent.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-huh.
IVANKA TRUMP: And I think, you know one of the principles he's always espoused, whether
it's good or bad, I personally have sort of adopted it myself. But if somebody comes after
you, you have to go after them. Because it will teach anyone else who wants to do it,
it will at least let them know you're gonna respond to it.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-hum.
IVANKA TRUMP: Ahm, and he done that. Both times that it's be this...
DAVID LETTERMAN: What about, what about turn the other cheek? What about turning the other
cheek? What about rising above the fray? Taking the high road?
IVANKA TRUMP: I guess that ahh, I guess that's one approach. I don't know. I'm, I'm not well-studied
in that.
DAVID LETTERMAN: I see. Yes. Ahh, well, this, this is...
IVANKA TRUMP: I did go to a finance school was well.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah. Ahh, and the, the show is now ahh, finishing its, is it done for
the season, are you?
IVANKA TRUMP: It is.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: It is. We actually had the live finale last Sunday night.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Uh-hum.
IVANKA TRUMP: Ahm, and it was, it was funny because we were standing, it was at the Hollywood
Bowl, there were thousands of peole watching. There were millions of people watching on
television, it was live. And I'm standing backstage with my older brother, my father,
all of a sudden there are fireworks, just going off in the background, and then they're
about to open this boardroom door and we're gonna walk on to the Hollywood Bowl stage.
And I just start laughing because I looked at my father and I just go, do you think this
is what most people do on a Sunday night?
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah, yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: There are fireworks, there are thousands of people, so it's...
DAVID LETTERMAN: Rarefied experience. Your entire life has been that way.
IVANKA TRUMP: It has, it has.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Yeah, yeah.
IVANKA TRUMP: But it's been great.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Well it's a great pleasure meeting you.
IVANKA TRUMP: Thank you.
DAVID LETTERMAN: And, and ahh when, you know, when you dump old man. Come, come back and
see us all the time.
IVANKA TRUMP: Will do.
DAVID LETTERMAN: Pleasure. Thank you very much. Ivanka Trump, ladies and gentlemen.
We'll be right back with Corinne Bailey Rae.