7 surprising men Ivanka Trump was romantically linked to before she married Jared
Believe it or not, there was a time before JaVanka.
Yup, back in the late '90s and early 2000s, Ivanka Trump was flashing hot dog vendors (allegedly), modeling in wacky runway shows, and dating her way through the era's most eligible bachelors.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka didn't meet until 2007, when they were set up, sort of, by a friend, intending to help the two network in the real estate world.
"They very innocently set us up thinking that our only interest in one another would be transactional," Ivanka told Vogue in 2015. But, to use her father's parlance, she continued, "whenever we see them we're like, the best deal we ever made!"
The couple briefly broke up in 2008 because Kushner was worried that Ivanka's religious background wouldn't jibe with his Orthodox Jewish family. But in 2009, the couple reconciled and Ivanka converted to Judaism.
In that same Vogue interview, she spoke about Jared's favorite date night activity: Looking at real estate development sites.
"We went to this great restaurant in Brooklyn on Saturday, and all of a sudden I find myself standing on the roof of the Whole Foods in Gowanus in the pouring rain. At midnight. And he's showing me this giant site he just bought. I'm like, 'Huh. So this is why you chose that restaurant,'" she said.
Clearly they're meant for each other.
But all that came later. First, Ivanka would date socialites, actors, athletes, and, reportedly, even a septuagenarian music mogul. Read on to see Ivanka's relationship timeline.
Ivanka's first college boyfriend was Greg Hersch, whom she met while at Georgetown University.
Ivanka spent her freshman and sophomore years at Georgetown University before transferring to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (the alma mater of both her father and Don Jr.)
But before she made it over to Philadelphia, she met Greg Hersch, an investment banker who later went on to launch his own money management firm, Florence Capital.
The pair seemed to move relatively quickly — Trump was living with Hersch for a time in DC and the couple adopted a yellow Labrador together. They broke up in 2001.
In a 2007 interview with GQ Ivanka said that while "it's difficult being friends with an ex," she managed to remain friendly with Hersch.
After she and Greg broke up, Ivanka started dating socialite James "Bingo" Gubelmann in 2001.
ames — who most, including Ivanka, referred to as Bingo — and Ivanka dated for nearly four years. They ran in similar rarefied circles; both grew up in New York City and attended prestigious private schools (though at one point Ivanka and her school Chapin made a "mutual decision" for her to leave, and she was sent to the Connecticut boarding school Choate.)
Anyway! While dating Ivanka, Bingo traded on his wealthy background to produce the 2003 documentary "Born Rich," about his cohort, and Ivanka appears in several segments of the film. He later went on to produce a slew of films, including "The Runner" and something called "My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?"
The pair lasted until around 2005, and then during an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" Ivanka did the totally chill thing of announcing their break up on air. (Hope Bingo knew before Jay Leno did).
Years later, in 2016, Bingo made the tabloids again when he was arrested along with Maroon 5 bassist Mickey Madden outside a bar on St. Mark's Place on charges of cocaine possession. As a part of his post-arrest agreement, Gubelmann pledged to attend a treatment program.
Ivanka supposedly rebounded from Bingo with ... Lance Armstrong.
Did Ivanka ever wear one of those ubiquitous Livestrong bracelets? Chances are, yes, because she's rumored to have briefly dated Livestrong founder and now-disgraced Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.
Ivanka and Armstrong met in 2006 during a trip Ivanka took to Los Angeles to film scenes for "The Apprentice" according to People — though it's unclear whether any real romance took place.
Trump told the magazine at the time, "I have tremendous respect for Lance and all he has accomplished. That said, we are just friends."
Ivanka then moved on to "That 70s Show" star Topher Grace.
Yes, Topher Grace briefly dated Ivanka Trump following his split with Gubelmann, but he's not exactly proud of that.
"It certainly wasn't a political statement. This was a decade ago. I met her here in New York and we had a couple of dates," he told the Daily Beast in 2018. "I wouldn't say us." dated ', but ... I didn't do it for political reasons.
Despite Grace's protests, observers at the time said they were seen making out at Ivanka's 25th birthday party at the Pure club in Las Vegas.
The couple "danced and snuggled on the VIP bed and even shared a quick kiss during the party," People reported at the time.
Dole's heir, Justin Murdock, had a brief flirtation with Ivanka in 2006.
We've all been through a bad boy phase, including, apparently, Ivanka. Trump was briefly linked to Justin Murdock, heir to the Dole fruit fortune, in the mid-2000s before meeting Jared.
Their love didn't work out, and neither did Murdock's career at Dole. He left the company in 2013 and is now Senior Vice President of Investments at Castle & Cooke. Murdock has been romantically linked to sad singer Lana Del Rey and Avril Lavigne, but he settled down with Clint Eastwood's granddaughter Francesca in 2017.
In July 2019, Murdock was charged with rape by an anonymous model.
It didn't work out, so he moved to Sean Brosnan in 2007.
Sean Brosnan, son of former 007 Pierce Brosnan, is an actor and director who has appeared in more than 20 movies and television shows. At the time he was dating Ivanka, he had just appeared in a television miniseries called "When Evil Calls" and was working on a couple of other television projects.
But alas, it was not, and Brosnan did not even meet the Donald.
"I was too smart to bring home a date or a boyfriend," she told CNN in 2016. "I was not going to subject boyfriends to scrutiny from my father, or my mother, unless I was 100% sure."
The winner for the most unlikely suitor? Quincy Jones.
Motown legend Quincy Jones, father of Rashida and Kidada Jones, said in a 2018 interview with New York magazine that he dated Ivanka and that it was his idea.
Jones expressed his dislike of Ivanka's father, calling him "Mentally limited-a megalomaniac, narcissist" before noting "He used to date Ivanka, you know."
Designer Tommy Hilfiger reportedly hooked them up after Ivanka asked to be introduced to the music legend. Jones was 72 and Ivanka 25.
"I told her, 'She is a good mother ...'. She had the most beautiful legs that she has ever seen in my life. But she got the wrong father," he told David Marchese of New York.
Ivanka later denied Jones' claims through "sources" who spoke to E! and Daily Mail and said that Jones' story was not true.
And then there was the one that got away.
No, Ivanka and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady never dated, but her father really wishes they had.
In a 2018 profile on Jared and Ivanka, the New York Times wrote that many people had heard Donald Trump lamenting Ivanka's choice of husbands.
"Jared hasn't been that good to me," he complained while running for president in 2016.
Trump allegedly also joked that he "could have had Tom Brady" as his son-in-law. "Instead," the president continued, "I have Jared Kushner."
