--- title: Ivanka Trump Was Sexually Harassed By Construction Workers description: Before her first big job, she had an anxiety dream about how to handle catcalls at sites—which she experienced in real life canonical: https://time.com/4435945/ivanka-trump-wrote-about-being-sexually-harassed-by-construction-workers/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-02T21:32:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:03.883Z og:title: Read What Ivanka Trump Wrote About Sexual Harassment og:description: Being harassed by her father's construction workers gave her an anxiety dream og:url: https://time.com/4435945/ivanka-trump-wrote-about-being-sexually-harassed-by-construction-workers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44ced067ea1b35a4/6988a0e2fb4eacce9e88e98d/ivanka-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Accepts the Republican Presidential Nomination og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read What Ivanka Trump Wrote About Sexual Harassment twitter:description: Being harassed by her father's construction workers gave her an anxiety dream twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44ced067ea1b35a4/6988a0e2fb4eacce9e88e98d/ivanka-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ivanka Trump Wrote About Being Sexually Harassed By Construction Workers > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=4fd51470-2825-4003-9b96-1338b589dea1&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Aug 2, 2016 9:32 PM UTC  Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump, speaks about how her father is the best choice for President during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, USA on July 21, 2016. Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump, speaks about how her father is the best choice for President during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, USA on July 21, 2016. Anadolu Agency—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Aug 2, 2016 9:32 PM UTC Donald Trump and his son Eric have done a fair amount of talking in recent days on what daughter/sister [Ivanka Trump](http://time.com/money/4434855/donald-trump-ivanka-sexual-harassment/) would do if she were sexually harassed in the workplace. In contrast to the women who’ve come forward with accusations against [Roger Ailes](http://motto.time.com/4423695/samantha-bee-roger-ailes-send-off/), Donald said he’d hope his daughter would find a new career or job. [Eric](http://motto.time.com/4434973/megyn-kelly-eric-trump-ivanka-harassment/) called her “a strong, powerful woman” who “wouldn’t allow herself to be subjected to it” (though he added that sexual harassment was a “no-go” and [should be reported to human resources)](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/02/eric-trump-donald-ivanka-sexual-harassment). Ivanka has not yet weighed in on the hypothetical situation herself—but she has previously addressed the question of sexual harassment in the workplace, in her 2009 book [_The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1439140154/?tag=mottocom-20)_._ Ivanka’s first real job was with Forest City Ratner, working on a development team for a shopping center (which, she points out, did not compete directly with any Trump Organization projects). The night before, she writes, she had an “anxiety dream” about “walking through a construction site with my new boss when one of the construction workers whistled at me.” It’s a scenario she had experienced in real life many times before, on her father’s construction sites. “But in those cases, the workers never realized I was the boss’s daughter,” and they apologized profusely when they found out. “Here, though,” she writes, “I couldn’t shake thinking that I needed to come up with a disarming line to defuse the situation and keep the embarrassment level to a minimum. After all, I kept reminding myself, my new boss would be observing my reaction, which meant that if anything like that happened it would put me into an uncomfortable, no-win situation. If I ignored the inappropriate remarks, I might come across as weak. If I responded too harshly, I’d be a tightly wound witch.” Ivanka seems to have a more nuanced understanding of sexual harassment than her male family members. But she concluded that section of the book with a somewhat light note: “Sexual harassment is never acceptable, and we must stand against it. At the same time, we must recognize that our coworkers come in all shapes, stripes and sizes. What might be offensive to one person might appear harmless to another. Learn to figure out when a hoot or holler is indeed a form of harassment and when it’s merely a good-natured tease that you can give back in kind.” So much for those of us who’d prefer no hooting or hollering in the workplace at all. Not that the Trumps are especially known for empathy. A few pages before the anxiety dream, Ivanka describes a lesson in punctuality, when she and her father were sitting on his private plane waiting for his then-wife Marla Maples to arrive for takeoff. As usual, Ivanka says, Maples was running late, and when her car finally pulled up on the tarmac --- > “” --- This wouldn’t have happened if tardiness hadn’t been a chronic problem, Ivanka says, and Marla never missed a departure time again. “Anyway,” Ivanka writes, “that’s the mind-set I took with me to my first day on the job.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4435945/ivanka-trump-wrote-about-being-sexually-harassed-by-construction-workers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4435945/ivanka-trump-wrote-about-being-sexually-harassed-by-construction-workers/"},"headline":"Ivanka Trump Wrote About Being Sexually Harassed By Construction Workers","datePublished":"2016-08-02T21:32:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:03.883Z","description":"Ivanka Trump wrote a revealing story about sexual harassment in her 2009 book","url":"https://time.com/4435945/ivanka-trump-wrote-about-being-sexually-harassed-by-construction-workers/","keywords":["motto","sexual harassment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44ced067ea1b35a4/6988a0e2fb4eacce9e88e98d/ivanka-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44ced067ea1b35a4/6988a0e2fb4eacce9e88e98d/ivanka-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Accepts the Republican Presidential Nomination","caption":"Donald Trump Accepts the Republican Presidential Nomination","creditText":"Anadolu Agency—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4435945/ivanka-trump-wrote-about-being-sexually-harassed-by-construction-workers/","name":"Ivanka Trump Wrote About Being Sexually Harassed By Construction Workers"}}]}] ```