What have former White House staffers alleged about Donald Trump's comments concerning Ivanka, and how have those claims been corroborated?
Executive summary
Former White House staffers, most prominently Miles Taylor in his book Blowback, allege that Donald Trump regularly made sexual comments about his daughter Ivanka while she served in the White House, including remarks about her "breasts," "backside," and fantasizing "what it might be like to have sex with her," and say those comments once prompted Chief of Staff John Kelly to rebuke the president [1] [2]. Those claims have been published across multiple outlets citing Taylor’s excerpted book passage and are bolstered by a pattern of past public comments by Trump about Ivanka, but they lack on-the-record, contemporaneous public confirmation from many named witnesses and have been criticized as lacking incontrovertible proof [1] [3] [4].
1. The core allegation: what former staffers — especially Miles Taylor — wrote
Miles Taylor, a former DHS chief of staff who previously authored the anonymous 2018 New York Times op‑ed about Trump, wrote in Blowback that "aides said he talked about Ivanka Trump’s breasts, her backside, and what it might be like to have sex with her," and that John Kelly once reminded the president that Ivanka was his daughter [1] [2]. Newsweek obtained and excerpted portions of Taylor’s book and reported those specific lines, and outlets including The Seattle Times and People republished the same allegations drawn from the book excerpt [2] [1] [3].
2. How the allegations have been corroborated in media reporting
Multiple mainstream outlets ran nearly identical accounts after Newsweek published the excerpt, creating a cluster of independent reports that cite the same book passage, which functions as a form of corroboration of the claim that Taylor attributed these allegations to aides [1] [2] [3]. Reporting also places Taylor in a broader pattern of whistleblowing about the administration—he previously authored the anonymous op‑ed and has publicly criticized Trump—facts outlets note when contextualizing his account [5] [1].
3. Context: Trump’s documented history of commenting about Ivanka
Public record confirms that Trump has made comments about Ivanka’s appearance for years, including radio and television remarks such as saying she had "the best body" on Howard Stern and that he might date her if she were not his daughter—examples repeatedly cited in coverage that ties Taylor’s account to an established pattern of behavior [3]. Reporters and commentators have used those prior public comments to argue that Taylor’s allegations fit a recognizable pattern, which some see as circumstantial corroboration [3] [6].
4. Pushback, limits of proof, and alternative viewpoints
Critics and some commentators caution that Taylor’s book claims, while serious, are not incontrovertibly proven in the public record; The Guardian explicitly noted there is "no incontrovertible proof" that Trump said every alleged thing and pointed out that John Kelly had not publicly confirmed the rebuke at the time of that commentary [4]. Media coverage often relies on anonymous aides or book excerpts rather than contemporaneous, on‑the‑record testimony from the alleged witnesses, which leaves room for dispute over memory, motive, and sourcing [4] [5].
5. Why this matters and what remains unresolved
The allegations, if accurate, add to wider accounts of inappropriate conduct toward women in the Trump orbit and weigh on public judgment about character; outlets reporting Taylor’s excerpt explicitly connect these claims to broader accusations and legal findings about Trump’s treatment of women [1] [2]. What remains unresolved in the sources provided is eyewitness, on‑the‑record confirmation from named White House staffers present during the cited remarks and any contemporaneous White House responses; reporting relies on Taylor’s written account and previously publicized comments by Trump rather than independent documentation of specific private conversations [1] [4].