Ivanka briefly opens up for the first time about father Donald Trump's legal battles - and tears up talking about 'impossibly glamorous' late mother Ivana

Ivanka Trump has opened up for the first time about her father's court battles during a podcast episode where she also shed a tear talking about her 'impossibly glamorous' late mother Ivana. 

During an on-camera interview with Lex Fridman, the 42-year-old spoke about the Donald Trump's long series of legal entanglements. 

'On a human level, it's my father and I love him very much, so it's painful to experience, but ultimately, I wish it didn't have to be this way,' Ivanka revealed. 

Donald Trump faces charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into election interference and the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, as well as charges for mishandling classified documents in Florida.

Separately, Trump, 78, faces charges for election interference in Georgia. He has pleaded not guilty on all charges. 

Later on the podcast, Ivanka also grew visibly emotional as she was asked about her mother, who died July 2022 at the age of 73.

When asked about whether she missed her, Ivanka said:  'So much. It's unbelievable how dislocating the loss of a parent is. 

'And her mother lives with me still, my grandmother who helped raise us, so that's very special. 

Pausing to fight back tears, she added: 'And I can ask her some of the questions that I would've... Sorry. I wanted to ask my own mom, but it's hard.'

Ivana Trump was an Olympic skier and model who was married to Donald Trump from 1977 to 1990. Her daughter described her as 'a remarkable, remarkable woman'.  

'She was a trailblazer in so many different ways, as an athlete and growing up in communist Czechoslovakia, as a fashion mogul, as a real estate executive and builder,' Ivanka said.  

'Just this all-around trailblazing businesswoman. I also learned from her, aside from that element, how to really enjoy life. I look back and some of my happiest memories of her are in the ocean, just lying on our back, looking up at the sun and just so in the moment or dancing. 

'She loved to dance, so she really taught me a lot about living life to its fullest. And she had so much courage, so much conviction, so much energy, and a complete comfort with who she was.'

'I have these vignettes in my mind, seeing her in action in different capacities, a lot of times in the context of things that I would later go on to do myself,' Ivanka added. 

'So I would go almost every day after school, and I'd go to the Plaza Hotel and I'd follow her around as she'd walk the hallways and just observe her. 

'And she was so impossibly glamorous. She was doing everything in four-and-a-half-inch heels, with this bouffant. It's almost an inaccessible visual.'

Ivanka was a senior advisor in Trump's administration from 2017 until 2021, but she said she's taking a step back from politics and has not been heavily involved in his second bid for the White House. 

Along with her half-sister sister Tiffany, she recently celebrated her father's 78th birthday by sharing a series of photos in sweet tributes on Instagram.