Ivanka's Long-Time Friend Pens Tell-All Essay

Lysandra Ohrstrom, who says she and Ivanka were BFFs, dishes on their friendship, falling-out
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 18, 2020 12:24 PM CST
Ex-Ivanka Pal: She Was 'Shamelessly Vain,' 'Exciting'
Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. listen as President Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Kenosha Regional Airport on Nov. 2, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Lysandra Ohrstrom went to the same Upper East Side girls school as Ivanka Trump, and she describes the president's daughter as "my best friend growing up." Not that they're BFFs anymore, per Ohrstrom's new essay in Vanity Fair, which details the friendship that started in their early teens and lasted for more than a decade. Ohrstrom writes that they first started interacting casually when she got a "last-minute invite" to Trump's 13th birthday party, and they became "inseparable" during a trip to Paris with other classmates from Chapin the summer before their freshman year in high school. "We remained that way for more than a decade, more sisters than best friends," Ohrstrom notes. "Sure, she loved to talk about herself and was shamelessly vain, but she was also fun, loyal, and let's face it, pretty exciting." Standout details from Ohrstrom:

  • One of her earliest memories of her ex-pal, before they became close, was when Ivanka "blamed a fart on a classmate."
  • Ivanka was the ringleader during an incident in which she, Ohrstrom, and some other girls flashed their breasts out of a classroom window, but only Ohrstrom and the other girls were suspended; Ivanka "pleaded her innocence to the headmistress and got off scot-free."
  • Donald Trump seemed to take great interest in the "physiques" of Ivanka's classmates and "would barely acknowledge me except to ask if Ivanka was the prettiest or the most popular girl in our grade."
  • During a phone call when they were in their mid-20s, Ohrstrom suggested Ivanka read Richard Russo's Empire Falls, about a blue-collar town in Maine. Ivanka said, "Ly, why would you tell me to read a book about f---ing poor people? What part of you thinks I would be interested in this?"
  • "You've really turned into a Marxist," was Trump's response to Ohrstrom during a heated conversation about affordable housing in New York City.
  • Ohrstrom says she was a maid of honor at Ivanka's 2009 wedding, but "our friendship finally broke under the weight of our differences." The final straw was when, after not hearing from Ivanka after the wedding, Ohrstrom reached out with a text that said something along the lines of: "Hey, I started a new job the day after your wedding, and you haven't asked me a single question about it." Ivanka's response was along the lines of: "Ly, I'm too busy for this s---."
  • Where Ohrstrom sees her former friend ending up after she vacates the White House? "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."
Read her piece in its entirety here. (More Ivanka Trump stories.)

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