Most fathers walk their daughters down the aisle with tears in their eyes. Donald Trump apparently spent the weeks before Ivanka’s wedding trying to make sure the aisle never got walked at all. That’s the claim from Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who says Trump personally asked him for dirt on the Kushner family to blow up the whole relationship before it reached a ceremony. It’s one of those stories that sounds too wild to be true — until you remember who we’re talking about.
Christie Says Trump Asked for “Anything More” on the Kushners
During an appearance at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in April 2026, Christie dropped the bombshell. He said that when it became clear Ivanka and Jared Kushner were heading toward marriage, Trump invited Christie to dinner and flat-out asked: “Do you have anything more on the family, so I can break this up?”
Christie’s internal reaction, as he told it? “Haven’t I given you enough?” That was a reference to the fact that Christie, as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, had already prosecuted Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, in one of the most sensational white-collar crime cases in the state’s history. Trump knew all of this. He’d watched the whole thing play out. And apparently, he wanted more ammunition.
The Charles Kushner Case Was Already Insane
To understand why Christie thought Trump already had “enough,” you need to know what Charles Kushner did. And honestly, it reads like a mob movie script. When Charles found out his own sister and brother-in-law were cooperating with federal investigators looking into his finances, he didn’t hire a lawyer. He hired a prostitute. He paid a woman to seduce his sister’s husband, had the encounter secretly recorded on video, and then sent the tape to his sister — timed to arrive on the day of her son’s engagement party.
Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. He was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison. This was the family Trump’s daughter wanted to marry into, and Trump clearly wasn’t thrilled about the optics — or anything else about it.
Trump Wanted Ivanka to Marry Tom Brady Instead
If you’re wondering what kind of son-in-law Donald Trump actually had in mind, he made that pretty clear. Trump publicly stated he would have preferred Ivanka marry Tom Brady. Yes, that Tom Brady. The quarterback. Because of course he did.
Christie described Trump as someone who, when “worked into a lather,” will “say and do anything to get what he wants.” Christie also pointed out that Trump can be charming when he wants to be — noting a March 2025 dinner where longtime critic Bill Maher described Trump as “gracious and measured” — but said Trump simply lacks the patience or discipline to keep it up. So when the charm didn’t work on Ivanka, the opposition research approach apparently seemed like a reasonable Plan B.
The Couple Had Already Broken Up Once Over Religion
Trump wasn’t the only person who had reservations about the relationship. Ivanka and Jared actually broke up in 2008, and religion was the reason. Jared was raised in the Modern Orthodox Jewish tradition, and his family wanted him to marry a Jewish woman. Ivanka grew up Presbyterian. In the documentary “Born Rich,” she appeared wearing a silver cross necklace — which wasn’t exactly what the Kushner family had in mind.
Jared wrote about it in his 2022 book “Breaking History: A White House Memoir”: “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.” Page Six reported at the time that the split was “mutual,” though a New Yorker report later clarified that Ivanka was unhappy Jared didn’t stand up to his parents about it. Jared’s friend Nitin Saigal told The New Yorker: “I know he loved Ivanka dearly. But the religious thing was important to him.”
Wendi Deng Played Matchmaker on a Yacht
The couple might have stayed broken up if not for an unlikely matchmaker: Wendi Deng, the ex-wife of Rupert Murdoch. Deng was friends with both Ivanka and Jared and pulled a classic move — she invited them both on the same yacht trip without telling the other. It worked. They got back together, and this time Ivanka told Jared she was open to converting to Judaism.
They began studying with a rabbi and practicing Shabbat together. Ivanka completed her conversion before the wedding. She later told Vogue: “It’s been such a great life decision for me. I am very modern, but I’m also a very traditional person.” She also said Judaism gave her “an amazing blueprint for family connectivity.” By July 2009, they were engaged. Jared proposed with a 5.22-carat cushion-cut diamond ring that he designed himself. The ring, set by Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, was estimated to be worth around $500,000.
The Wedding Was Huge — And a Little Awkward
The ceremony took place in October 2009 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. It was a 500-guest affair that looked like a society magazine come to life. Ivanka wore a custom Vera Wang gown inspired by Grace Kelly and diamond jewelry from her own line. Regis Philbin performed at the reception. The guest list included Natalie Portman, Rupert Murdoch, and Anna Wintour.
Wedding favors included flip-flops with “Jared” and “Ivanka” on the insoles and a tag reading “A Great Pair,” plus a book in Hebrew. Their first dance song was David Gray’s “This Year’s Love.” The wedding gift registry was at Tiffany and featured items like a $300 “vegetable spoon,” because apparently that’s a thing when you’re in New York society.
But the wedding followed conservative Jewish tradition, and that reportedly threw Trump for a loop. According to the 2019 book “Kushner, Inc.,” Donald was “baffled” and “discombobulated” by certain elements of the ceremony — including the custom of giving shawls to women as they arrived, a religious detail he clearly hadn’t anticipated.
Trump’s Wedding Toast Was a Disaster
Then came the toast. A man who has given thousands of speeches — at rallies, at press conferences, at the United Nations — apparently could not handle a father-of-the-bride moment. According to Esquire, Trump “floundered miserably.” One wedding guest put it bluntly: “He gave the most pathetic, lame, embarrassing speech I’ve heard in a long time.”
Trump’s own recollection of the toast, given to People magazine in 2009, was considerably more modest. He said he simply told the couple: “Be happy and enjoy your life.” That’s either admirable restraint or a sign he had absolutely nothing prepared. Given everything we know about his feelings leading up to the wedding, the flatness of the toast makes a lot more sense.
Jared Allegedly Got His Revenge on Christie
If you’re wondering whether Jared Kushner just let the whole Christie-prosecuting-his-father thing slide — he did not. Christie claimed in his 2019 book “Let Me Finish” that Jared was directly responsible for getting him fired from heading Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential transition team. The way Christie tells it, Jared never forgave him for sending Charles Kushner to prison, and when he finally had the power to do something about it, he did.
The irony, of course, is thick. Trump asked Christie for dirt to stop the wedding. The wedding happened anyway. The groom’s family never forgot that Christie put the groom’s father behind bars. And Christie eventually lost his role in Trump’s political operation because of the very prosecution Trump tried to use as a weapon.
Trump Later Pardoned Charles Kushner — and Made Him Ambassador
The final twist in this story is almost too perfect. At the end of his first presidential term, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner. The same man whose criminal record Trump once wanted to use against his own daughter’s fiancé got a clean slate. Then Trump went further — he nominated Charles Kushner as U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco. Kushner was confirmed to the post.
So to recap: Trump tried to use Charles Kushner’s crimes to prevent the wedding. The wedding happened. Jared became one of Trump’s closest White House advisors. And then Trump pardoned the father-in-law he once tried to weaponize and gave him one of the most prestigious diplomatic posts on earth. Only in this family does a story arc like that make any sense at all.
Where Things Stand Now
Ivanka and Jared have been married since 2009. They have three kids — Arabella Rose, Joseph Frederick, and Theodore James. They celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary at Camp David. Ivanka has described Jared as her “best friend” and “a genuinely good person.” Jared, per Forbes, is on track to become a billionaire.
Christie, for his part, used the Harvard event to tear into the current state of the Republican Party. He called congressional Republicans “lemmings” and singled out Senator Lindsey Graham as someone who “only cares about his title. Absolutely nothing else.” He also made it clear he sees Trump as someone capable of charm but incapable of consistency — a man who can win anyone over at dinner but can’t stop himself from doing something destructive the next morning.
The wedding Trump tried to stop produced the son-in-law who became one of his most trusted political allies. Sometimes the thing you fight the hardest against is the thing you end up needing the most. Or maybe this whole family just operates on a level the rest of us aren’t equipped to understand.
