While it has been a historic week for the Trump family, Oct. 30 also marked Ivanka Trump’s 43rd birthday.
The daughter of president-elect Donald Trump and his late ex-wife Ivana Trump rang in her birthday Nov. 4, the day before Election Day in the United States. (She even got a shoutout from close friend Kim Kardashian: “No one sweeter than you @ivankatrump.”)
To mark the occasion, Ivanka—who shares daughter Arabella Kushner, 13, and sons Joseph Kushner, 10, and Theodore Kushner, 8, with husband Jared Kushner—reflected on “life’s lessons,” she wrote, sharing a picture of her with a birthday cake. “Here are some truths I’ve learned along the way.”
As she tweeted, these are the 17 learnings from her 43 years:
1. “Family and friends are everything. Nourish these relationships, check in on them, and let people know you care, even across distances. As Esther Perel says, ‘The quality of your relationships determines the quality of your life.'”
2. “Forgive people—it frees you more than anyone else.”
3. “Everyone was sent to teach you something. Every person you meet holds a mirror to a lesson your soul needs to grow.”
4. “Avoid Lashon Hara / Gossip. Choose words that heal, not harm.”
5. “Trust yourself. Identify your core values and live in alignment with them; this may mean setting firm boundaries for yourself and with others.”
6. “Nourish your body. Eating whole, locally grown, nutritious foods fuels your energy and spirit. (But enjoy that occasional piece of cake without guilt—indulgence is one of life’s joys too!)”
7. “Get sunshine daily. It makes the rest of your day—and night—better.”
8. “‘Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.’ – Carl Jung Bring awareness to your hidden patterns, or they’ll quietly script your life story as if it were destiny.”
9. “Strong body, strong mind. Move your body daily, lift weights, play sports, and embrace play.”
10. “Strive for three daily wins: a physical win, a mental win, and a spiritual win. @naval says, ‘A calm mind, a fit body, and a house full of love. These things can’t be bought; they must be earned.'”
11. “Cultivate self-mastery. As Marcus Aurelius said, ‘You have power over your mind—not outside events.’ Focus inward; true strength lies in controlling your response, not the world around you.”
12. “Guard your peace. Epictetus observed, ‘Anyone capable of angering you becomes your master.’ Mastery over self means others don’t control your state of mind.”
13. “Be open to the truth, wherever it leads. Listen, reflect, challenge, and grow. Cultivate creativity and expansion in life and embrace new ideas, connections, and art.”
14. “Get curious. About your partner, your kids, your friends, and the world around you.”
15. “Approach people and life with love and positivity. @DollyParton said, ‘I don’t criticize and condemn; I love and accept.'”
16. “‘The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.’ – Henry David Thoreau Every choice is a trade of your time and energy; spend them on what truly matters.”
17. “’Thinking is difficult; that’s why most people judge.’ – Carl Jung What you judge, you cannot understand. Instead, observe, study, and learn.”
News projecting that Republican candidate Trump has defeated Democratic opponent Kamala Harris to become the 47th president of the United States, Ivanka will once again become the First Daughter.
The Trump Family Tree
Ivana Trump
Ivana Trump was the first wife of Former President Donald Trump. Born in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia—now Zlín of the Czech Republic—in 1949, she rose to fame as a competitive skier. And, thanks to her marriage to Austrian ski instructor Alfred Winklmayr in 1971, Ivana was able to travel often outside of Czechoslovakia.
According to her book Raising Trump, the model met Donald three years after her 1973 divorce during a New York trip, where she’d traveled for a Canadian fashion show ahead of the Montreal Olympics. They wed in 1977 and welcomed three kids: Donald Trump Jr. born in 1977, Ivanka Trump born in 1981 and Eric Trump born in 1984.
The pair’s divorce was finalized in 1992 following his affair with Marla Maples, whom he later married.
However, Ivana—who then married Riccardo Mazzucchelli for two years followed by Rossano Rubicondi for less than a year—and Donald remained on good terms.
“Donald during the divorce was brutal,” she told ABC News in 2017. “He took the divorce as a business deal, and he cannot lose. He has to win. So he took about two years. And after the final situation was straightened up, we would just talk and we are friends.”
Ivana died in 2022 at age 73. According to NBC News, the New York City Medical Examiner said she died of “blunt impact injuries” and that her manner of death was an accident. A senior NYC official with direct knowledge added the circumstances were consistent with a fall on the stairs in her New York apartment.
Donald Trump Jr.
In 1977, Ivana and Donald welcomed their eldest son Donald Trump Jr. He began working for his father’s company The Trump Organization in 2001 and now serves as the executive vice president. Don Jr. has also been involved in his dad’s political campaigns, including speaking at rallies and the Republican National Convention during his father’s presidential runs.
He shares five children with his ex-wife, model Vanessa Haydon: Kai (who made a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention) Donald III, Tristan, Spencer and Chloe. Don Jr. is now engaged to Fox News alum Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Ivanka Trump
Four years after the arrival of Don Jr., Donald and Ivana became parents to daughter Ivanka Trump.
Before her father’s presidency, the University of Pennsylvania alum worked at The Trump Organization. But after he was elected in 2016, the fashion brand founder—who had her own eponymous line—took on the role of Advisor to the President.
After her dad announced he would be running for president again in 2024, Ivanka revealed she would be stepping out of the political arena to focus on her family with husband, former White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, and their children Arabella, Joseph and Theodore.
“I love my father very much,” she said in part of a 2022 statement obtained by NBC News. “This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics.”
Eric Trump
Born in 1984, Eric Trump is the third child of Ivana and Donald. Like his brother, he works as executive vice president of The Trump Organization, which he joined in 2007.
He is married to Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, with whom he shares kids Luke and Carolina.
Marla Maples is Donald’s second wife, whom he met while still married to Ivana.
In Raising Trump, Ivana wrote the actress approached her about the affair during a trip to Aspen in 1989. Still, Marla said on a 2018 episode of the ABC podcast Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris that she “never considered” herself a mistress.
“My intention was to never bring hurt,” she continued. “Do I wish more than anything that we could have had this relationship after his divorce papers were signed? Absolutely. I mean, with all my heart. How much heartache would it have saved so many people if I had seen that piece of paper before we got involved? But it didn’t happen that way.”
Marla and Donald welcomed daughter Tiffany Trump in 1993, and the couple wed later that year. However, the Dancing With the Stars alum and the 45th commander in chief announced their separation four years later and finalized their divorce in 1999.
Tiffany Trump
After her parents’ breakup, Tiffany Trump relocated with her mother to California.
“She moved us out of New York to get out of the spotlight and let me grow up and find my own identity versus being in the shadow of a name or growing up very young with all that pressure,” Tiffany told People in 2016. “So, she wanted me to have a chance to have a normal childhood. As normal as possible. I think that she did well in that.”
She released her 2011 single “Like a Bird” and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 with a B.A. in sociology, focusing on law and society. She then went to Georgetown Law School, where she graduated with a JD in 2020.
In 2022, Tiffany wed Michael Boulos. Her father announced they’re expecting their first baby during an October 2024 speech at the Detroit Economic Club. “She’s an exceptional young woman,” he said during his remarks. “And she’s going to have a baby. So that’s nice.”
Melania met Donald in New York in 1996 while she was working as a model.
“It was a big fashion party that my friend organized, fashion week, and he invited me,” she recalled on a 2016 episode of On the Record With Greta Van Susteren. “That’s how we met with Donald.”
Melania and Donald married in 2005, and they welcomed son Barron Trump the following year.
Born in 2006, Barron Trump is Donald and Melania’s only child. While he has lived a more private life—relocating with his parents from New York to live in Washington, D.C. and then Florida—it looked like he might enter the political world after he was selected in May 2024 as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention. However, Barron declined the offer.
“While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party,” a statement from Melania’s office shared with NBC News at the time said, “he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments.”
Like studying, perhaps, with Barron starting his freshman year at New York University in 2024. “He was accepted to a lot of colleges,” his father told the Daily Mail in an interview published Sept. 4. “He’s a very smart guy, and he’ll be going to Stern, the business school, which is a great school at NYU.”
