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What exact quotes from Donald Trump about Ivanka were reported as sexual or inappropriate?
Executive summary
Reporting over many years has documented multiple public remarks by Donald Trump that media and commentators described as sexual or inappropriate about his daughter Ivanka — most notably “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her,” and comments on her being “a piece of ass” or suggesting sexual attraction — which have been compiled by outlets such as The Independent, Elite Daily, The Forward and People [1] [2] [3] [4]. Available sources do not provide a single exhaustive legal transcript listing “every” remark, but several widely cited quotes and interview excerpts are consistently reported across the coverage above [1] [2] [3].
1. The most-cited explicit line: “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
This sentence is the single quote most frequently quoted in retrospectives of Trump’s comments about Ivanka; The Independent’s roundup highlights it as emblematic of the pattern of remarks that many readers found unsettling [1]. Multiple archival and news references preserve that phrasing as part of his public record and it is commonly used by outlets listing “creepy” or “unsettling” Trump quotes about his daughter [1].
2. Broadcast-era remarks and “a piece of ass” reporting
Contemporaneous interviews and reality-TV appearances produced other blunt, sexually framed lines. Reporting cites an exchange in which Trump affirmed a host’s characterization of Ivanka as “a piece of ass,” and the coverage frames these as examples of his habit of publicly sexualizing his daughter during media appearances [1]. Elite Daily’s compilation also revisits a 2006/2011-era appearance on The View where Trump made a comment linking sex and his daughter in a way that drew audible groans [2].
3. Multiple outlets compile a pattern, not just isolated quotes
Beyond single quotes, outlets such as The Independent, Elite Daily and The Forward present a list of several separate incidents and comments over decades that together form what those publications call an “unsettling record” — for example, commenting on Ivanka’s beauty and hypothetically what it would be like to have sex with her, or discussing whether she would pose for Playboy in a sexualized context [1] [2] [3]. Those pieces are explicit about pattern and context, not just isolated soundbites [3].
4. Sources differ on sourcing and some claims trace to drafts or books
Some claims reported in these roundups trace back to different types of sourcing: on-the-record TV interviews, magazine interviews, and at least one example described as appearing in an early draft of a Washington Post columnist’s piece that was later edited [3]. The Forward notes that a purported question allegedly asked by Trump appeared in an early draft of Richard Cohen’s column but was removed from the syndicated version [3]. That illustrates why different outlets’ lists of quotes sometimes include material with varying degrees of public documentation [3].
5. Context: why journalists and commentators labeled the comments “sexual” or “inappropriate”
The label follows directly from the literal content — remarks that express sexual attraction to or sexualize a daughter — and from repeated public delivery of such lines over years. Compilations in 2016–2018 and later framed the quotes as “creepy,” “unsettling,” or “super uncomfortable,” showing how editorial judgment across outlets classified the remarks based on their sexual content and family relationship [1] [2] [3].
6. What the available sources do not claim or prove
Available sources do not present a court finding or formal adjudication that these comments constitute criminal conduct; the pieces cited are journalistic compilations, book excerpts, interviews and archival images that document public remarks and reported drafts [1] [3] [2]. They also do not provide an exhaustive timeline of “every” comment; instead, they compile multiple prominent examples across decades [1] [2].
7. Why sourcing matters: differences between on-camera quotes, interviews and secondary reports
The coverage itself distinguishes between verbatim on-air quotes (e.g., The View, Howard Stern or televised interviews) and material recounted in books or drafts. The Forward and Elite Daily point out that some material comes from interviews or book excerpts, while other lines appear directly in broadcast archives or longstanding press coverage — meaning some items are directly attributable to specific appearances, others rely on reporting or archival references [3] [2].
8. Takeaway for readers and researchers
If you want a defensible list of “exact quotes,” start with the best-documented, repeatedly cited lines: “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her,” the “piece of ass” attribution in broadcast reporting, and other on-air comments compiled by outlets like The Independent and Elite Daily [1] [2]. For any quote you plan to cite in research or publication, consult the primary broadcast or print source referenced by these compilations to confirm exact wording and context; the pieces above are useful guides but are not primary-source repositories themselves [1] [2] [3].