Ivanka Trump was asked to explain why her father said pregnancy is an “inconvenience for a business” in 2004. | Getty Ivanka Trump gets testy in Cosmo interview

Ivanka Trump was challenged to rectify her father’s 2004 statement that pregnancy was an “inconvenience for a business” with his newly unveiled family leave plan in a contentious interview with Cosmopolitan Wednesday.

Donald Trump, with Ivanka by his side, unveiled the plan Tuesday, elaborating on his proposal to make child-care tax deductible for individuals making up to $250,000 annually and adding a new component: six weeks of paid family leave for expectant mothers. Trump has touted Ivanka, herself a mother of three, as one of the chief architects behind the plan.


In an interview Wednesday with Cosmopolitan.com, the mogul’s daughter was asked to explain how his newly stated policy lined up with his 2004 comments lamenting the toll of maternity leave on companies. At the time, Trump said pregnancy is "a wonderful thing for the woman, it's a wonderful thing for the husband, it's certainly an inconvenience for a business. And whether people want to say that or not, the fact is it is an inconvenience for a person that is running a business."

Confronted with the statement, Ivanka Trump quickly pushed back against the question, accusing the writer or “editorializing” and instilling “hostility” in her questions while defending her father’s business record with women.

“My father obviously has a track record of decades of employing women at every level of his company, and supporting women, and supporting them in their professional capacity, and enabling them to thrive outside of the office and within,” she said. “To imply otherwise is an unfair characterization of his track record and his support of professional women.”

Bluntly asked to address the comments, Ivanka Trump sidestepped and refused to acknowledge their existence.

“You said he made those comments,” she said. “I don't know that he said those comments.”

The interview ended shortly after the heated exchange.

Prior to her departure, the businesswoman was also pushed to explain why the family plan did not include paternity leave and how it would apply to gay male couples. Ivanka Trump insisted that her father’s plan was “a giant leap from where we are today,” but acknowledged the priority was on the mother.

“The plan, right now, is focusing on mothers, whether they be in same-sex marriages or not,” she said.