Ivanka Trump attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, as well as Chapin in New York City. After graduation, she spent two years at Georgetown University, then transferred to and graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science in economics in 2004.

Trump's first cover was a 1997 issue of Seventeen. Since then, she has made her way down fashion runways for Versace, Marc Bouwer and Thierry Mugler. She has done ad campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger and Sassoon Jeans and was featured on the cover of Stuff in August 2006 and again in September 2007. She was also recently featured on the covers of Forbes, Golf Magazine, Avenue Magazine, Elle Mexico and in the October 2007 issue of Harper's Bazaar. She placed #83 in the 2007 Maxim Hot 100.

In 1997, she hosted the Miss Teen USA Pageant, which is partially owned by her father. In 2006, she filled in for Carolyn Kepcher on five episodes of her father's television program The Apprentice 5, first appearing to help judge the Gillette task in week 2. Like Kepcher, Trump visited the site of the tasks and spoke to the teams, asking them pointed questions. She also evaluated contestants in the boardroom, pointing out critical errors and rebutting excuses they offered for losing the tasks.

Ivanka Trump was reported in December 2007 to be in a relationship with Jared Kushner, owner of The New York Observer. However, it was reported that the couple split in April 2008.

While the media have often compared Ivanka Trump to Paris Hilton heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune, Trump has objected to the comparison, explaining, “I work 13-hour days for my money,” in an interview with the London Express in 2007, and “I bought my house from my father — I have a mortgage, you know.” Trump asserted, “I think we are totally different individuals... If I were to go off the rails and become this party kid, I would not be able to afford my lifestyle. I’ve never had a sense of entitlement. I saw how hard my father worked for his money and it was always made very clear to me that things wouldn’t just be given to me.”