Ivanka Trump was «a brat» at high school claims childhood friend

Ivanka Trump was a "brat" at high school claims childhood friend

Credit: Charlie Neibergall/AP

Ivanka Trump was a "brat" at her Manhattan high school, one of her closest teenage friends has claimed.

Lysandra Ohstrohm, a 38-year-old journalist paints an unflattering picture of the president’s oldest daughter and White House Adviser, in an article in Vanity Fair.

They both attended Chapin, an all-girls private school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. 

Ms Ohstrohm, who voted for Joe Biden, was also a maid of honour at Ms Trump’s 2009 wedding to Jared Kushner, but the pair have grown apart since then.

She recalled getting a late invitation to Ivanka Trump’s 13th birthday party and being ferried with other guests to her father’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, having swung by the tycoon’s office to borrow his credit card.

Ms Trump’s alleged sense of privilege continued into her 20s, being dismissive of suggestions she should read Richard Russo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Empire Falls, about a diner manager in a working-class area of Maine.

Every legally cast vote should be counted. Every illegally cast vote should not. This should not be controversial.

This is not a partisan statement — free and fair elections are the foundation of our democracy. 🇺🇸

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) November 6, 2020

She questioned why her friend thought she might be interested in a book about poor people, Ms Ohstrohm claimed.

Ms Trump could also display great charm. "She was polite, refined, and fun to be around," Ms Ohstrohm added.

Strangers would marvel at how different Ivanka Trump was from her parents.

"There was a moment at the end of college or just after when it seemed like this more understated life of wealth and privilege might appeal to Ivanka—like she might actually veer off the track her dad had laid for her."

Appalled by Donald Trump’s administration, Ms Ohstrohm was scathing about Ms Trump’s tweeted statement on the election outcome calling for "every legally cast vote" to be counted.

The tweet, she said, showed Ms Trump was "still clearly hoping that she can be enriched and adored by the public she exploits even as she’s embraced on the slopes of Aspen."

Looking to the future, she concluded: "I expect Ivanka will find a soft landing in Palm Beach instead, where casual white supremacy is de rigueur and most misdeeds are forgiven if you have enough money. 

"It’s the perfect spot for her to lie low, shielded from the economic and social consequences of the policies she pursued for the past four years, the backlash against them, and from having to interact with her MAGA following."