Kim Kardashian Updates on Friendship with Ivanka Trump After ICE Raids Criticism

Kim Kardashian has revealed the status of her friendship with First Daughter Ivanka Trump.

It has not been easy going between 45-year-old Kardashian and the Trump clan in recent months.

After all, in late August the reality TV siren slammed her father, President Donald Trump, for his ICE raids.

But all seems to be kosher between the unlikely pals these days.

The ex-wife of Kanye West too to her Insta Stories to wish the blonde beauty a happy birthday as she uploaded an old photo of them side by side. ‘Happy birthday to the kindest, smartest woman I know,’ the SKIMS founder began her note.

‘I hope you are celebrating big! LOVE YOU! This will always be one of my favorite pics of us.’

Trump also showed some love to her West Coast pal as on Kim’s October 21 birthday she sent over a sweet Instagram note wishing her a great 45: ‘Love you birthday queen.’

Kim and Ivanka’s friendship traces back several years, and it only strengthened after the pair began working on prison reforms together.

The duo first crossed paths in 2014 at the Met Gala, where it was said that they bonded over motherhood. 

A source told Us Weekly in 2023, ‘Kim and Ivanka have been friends for years and have hung out on a number of occasions. ‘They initially bonded nearly a decade ago at the Met Gala over motherhood and being new moms. But they continued to connect numerous times over the years.’

Since their initial meeting a decade ago, the women have been spotted together on numerous occasions. They both recently attended Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s star-studded wedding in Venice, Italy. In 2018, the pair was seen posing side by side at the White House, where Kim was petitioning President Trump to commute the life sentence of drug offender Alice Marie Johnson.

The duo worked closely together to reduce and clear prison sentences with Kim often confiding in Ivanka while attending dinner parties at her house.

And by 2020, the reality star was gushing about Ivanka’s dad online. ‘President Trump commuted the sentences of three really deserving women. I didn’t hear much about it in the news, so I wanted to share with you their stories,’ she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

‘I have the pleasure of spending the day with these women today along with Alice Marie Johnson, who helped to pick these women.’

Two months ago Kardashian was criticized by the US Department of Homeland Security after she slammed President Trump’s ICE raids despite a cordial relationship with the Commander In Chief, his wife Melania and his daughter Ivanka. 

The mogul – who recently graduated from her law program – took aim at the 79-year-old native New Yorker in Venice.

‘In the news you hear: “Oh, it’s about people who have committed these crimes and they’re trying to help out our country,”‘ said Kardashian. ‘But then you hear about all of the people who have worked so hard to build our country, and so many people that are such a part of our country getting affected.’

Now, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has fired back at Kardashian for inveighing against the raids. 

‘Ms. Kardashian is misinformed and detached from the very reality of the operations in Los Angeles she has decided to opine on,’ McLaughlin told TMZ.

‘These are the violent criminals who Homeland Security, under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, have removed from Los Angeles’s streets: murderers, rapists, gang members and child pedophiles.’

She added pointedly: ‘Why does Ms. Kardashian continue to do the bidding of criminals at the expense of innocent Americans and brave law enforcement?’

Kardashian has vigorously engaged in years of legal activism to get various convicts released from prison – all while studying to become a lawyer herself, following in the footsteps of her father Robert Kardashian, who was on O.J. Simpson’s ‘dream team.’

During Trump’s previous term, she also visited the Oval Office to push for the passage of the FIRST STEP Act, a prison reform law that Trump ultimately did sign into law, resulting in the early release of tens of thousands of criminals. 

Kardashian previously spoke out against Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown in her native Los Angeles in June, calling ICE’s tactics ‘inhumane’ while advocating for the ‘hardworking people’ who were being torn apart from their families.

However, Kim faced backlash over the social media post as fans accused her of ‘virtue signaling’ due to her ties to the Trump family.

Kim is close friends with Trump’s glamorous daughter Ivanka, 43, and she previously met with Trump at the White House to discuss criminal justice reform during his first run as president.

But Kim doubled down on her stance as she was asked about Trump’s ICE Raids on Thursday while attending Diane von Furstenberg’s DVF Awards, where she was recognized for her prison reform advocacy, in Venice, Italy.

‘In the news you hear, ‘Oh, it’s about people who have committed these crimes and they’re trying to help out our country.’ But then you hear about all of the people who have worked so hard to build our country, and so many people that are such a part of our country getting affected,’ she told Variety before receiving her honor.

‘People I know. People my friends know. You want to believe that there’s a powerful message in protection, but then you see that it’s not really happening like that.

‘It’s really tough, but I think that we have to do what we can to protect the people that have really supported and built our country,’ Kim concluded.

In the same interview, Kim revealed if she plans to return to the White House to advocate for prison reform — something she did multiple times during Trump’s first presidency — and if that advocacy could include the Menendez brothers, who were both recently denied parole after spending over three decades behind bars for the 1989 murder of their parents.

Kim told Variety that she ‘would love to.’ 

‘[The Menendez brothers] are in a state prison so the governor is really in charge of that decision, but I would go to any administration and any White House to fight for the rights of people I believe in,’ she explained.

Kim’s original statement regarding the ICE raids in Los Angeles, which were ordered by President Trump and spawned protests and riots in Downtown LA, was published to her Instagram Story in June.

 News of Kim’s latest step in her attorney journey came hours after she took aim at President Donald Trump’s controversial ICE raids in the United States.

‘When we’re told that ICE exists to keep our country safe and remove violent criminals – great,’ Kim said.

‘But when we witness innocent, hardworking people being ripped from their families in inhumane ways, we have to speak up. We have to do what’s right.’

Kim continued: ‘Growing up in LA, I’ve seen how deeply immigrants are woven into the fabric of this city.

‘They are our neighbors, friends, classmates, coworkers, and family.

‘No matter where you fall politically, it’s clear that our communities thrive because of the contributions of immigrants. We can’t turn a blind eye when fear and injustice keep people from living their lives freely and safely.

‘There HAS to be a BETTER way.’

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded to the reality star’s public statement by doubling down on the Trump administration’s assertions that the ICE operations in Los Angeles are targeting convicted criminals.

‘@KimKardashian, which one of these convicted child molesters, murderers, drug traffickers and rapists would you like to stay in the country,’ McLaughlin posted on X, sharing photos of four individuals she said ICE arrested during the raids.

‘These are just a few of the convicted illegal criminals who have been picked up in the last 72 hours.’

This comes as Kim has taken the final step in her mission to becoming a lawyer like her late father Robert Kardashian.

According to TMZ, the SKIMS founder quietly took the California bar exam in late July and will learn if she passed on November 7 — two days before the State Bar makes results public on November 9 at 6pm PT.

The California bar exam, which is taken over the course of two days, is widely considered the hardest in the United States with a historically low pass rate.

While it’s typically administered in-person at a designated testing cite, Kim is speculated to have taken her exam privately with a proctor present in order to keep the word from getting out. 

Kim had to answer 200 multiple-choice questions as well as completing one 90-minute performance test and five one-hour essay questions, the outlet reports.

Meanwhile, Kim has never spoken publicly about who she endorsed in the 2024 Presidential election, in which Donald Trump triumphed over Democrat candidate Kamala Harris.