Did Trump say he wanted to date his daughter?

1. The plainly documented remark: a TV quip that stuck

On a 2006 episode of The View, Donald Trump addressed the possibility of Ivanka posing for Playboy and said, “I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her,” a line that aired with laughter from the studio and was reported at the time by outlets including Today and later confirmed by fact-checkers such as Snopes and Yahoo ^{[1] [3] [2]}. Trump’s then-representative told the Associated Press the comment was “absolutely joking” and meant to lampoon his own history of dating younger women ^{[1] [2]}.

2. Fact-checkers and archives corroborate the quote

Independent fact-checking and archival records reproduce the same phrasing and context: the comment is not a modern fabrication but appears in multiple contemporary reports and preserved clips and images in archives ^{[6] [3] [7]}. Snopes’ write-ups and later news roundups point to the television appearance and press accounts as the primary source for the quote ^{[3] [7]}.

3. Reporters see a pattern, not an isolated gaffe

Journalistic retrospectives characterize the remark as part of a broader pattern of what they call “unsettling” or “lewd” comments about Ivanka across years — describing other episodes where Trump complimented her figure, joked about dating young women, or made off-color remarks in front of staff ^{[4] [5]}. Those pieces use the 2006 clip as a focal example while linking it to subsequent reporting and accounts from former aides ^{[4] [5]}.

4. How supporters, spokespersons and critics frame the same remark

Trump’s communications team treated the remark as self-deprecating humor about his preference for younger partners; contemporaneous spokespeople insisted it was a joke ^{[1] [2]}. Critics and several news outlets interpret the same material as evidence of a pattern of problematic behavior toward women and family members, citing the comment as emblematic of that pattern ^{[4] [5]}. Both framings appear explicitly in the available reporting ^{[2] [4]}.

5. Other related remarks and archival material expand the context

Reporting cites additional instances — including archived footage and print coverage from the 1990s and 2000s — where Trump made flirtatious or age-related comments about young women and in one instance suggested he would date a girl “in 10 years” after meeting her as a child; those earlier items are presented in major newspapers’ archives and compilations ^[8]. These related items are separate from the 2006 View exchange but inform how journalists and critics interpret its meaning ^{[8] [4]}.

6. What the sources do and don’t say — limitations you should note

Available reports and fact-checks document the 2006 remark and quote Trump verbatim ^{[1] [3]}. They report spokesperson claims it was a joke and they catalogue other comments for pattern context ^{[2] [4] [5]}. Available sources do not mention any legal findings tied specifically to the 2006 remark, nor do they claim the quip alone constitutes criminal conduct — those are outside the cited reporting (not found in current reporting). When outlets call the line “unsettling,” that is an interpretive judgment presented alongside the primary evidence ^[4].

7. Bottom line for readers weighing truth and interpretation

Factually: yes, Trump said publicly that he might date Ivanka if she weren’t his daughter; contemporaneous news coverage and later fact-checks confirm the quote and its TV context ^{[1] [3] [2]}. Interpretively: commentators disagree — spokespersons and supporters treat it as a joke about dating younger women, while critics and several news analyses cite it as part of a broader pattern of sexually suggestive comments that they consider inappropriate ^{[2] [4] [5]}.