The Deeply Personal Reasons Ivanka Trump Converted To Judaism

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner tied the knot in 2009 at the Trump National Golf Course in New Jersey. The pair had been dating since 2007. However, before walking down the aisle, Kushner broke up with his girlfriend for a surprising reason. In 2022, Kushner published "Breaking History: A White House Memoir," where he revealed details about his early relationship with his wife. In it, he wrote (via The Times of Israel), "When I realized that I was falling in love with Ivanka, I grew concerned about our different religions. As hard and painful as it was, I broke up with her."

This parallels what was written in the 2019 book about Kushner and Trump titled "Kushner, Inc." Author Vicky Ward alleged that Kushner's parents, Charles and Seryl Kushner, disapproved of their son's relationship with Trump and influenced the split. Per The Jerusalem Post, Ward wrote, "Seryl and Charlie were dismayed at the idea of their son marrying outside the faith ... Charlie and Seryl refused to even meet Ivanka." 

A few months later, the couple reconciled, but when Trump decided to convert from Christianity to Orthodox Judaism, it was anything but easy. A source told Ward, "Charlie wanted to test Ivanka's devotion to his son and her future life, so he made her conversion as challenging as possible." Meanwhile, Trump's father, Donald Trump, is said to have questioned the conversion but quickly came to terms with it.