In his newly released memoir Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, California Governor Gavin Newsom recounts a conversation that temporarily shifted from wildfires to one of the most unlikely speculative relationships in recent American culture: whether legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady and Ivanka Trump ever came close to dating, and how Ivanka‘s eventual choice became a source of embarrassment for her father, President Donald Trump.
The tale took place aboard Marine One in 2018, as Trump, Newsom, and Ivanka‘s husband, Jared Kushner, shared a ride after a briefing on California‘s devastating wildfire season.
The Marine One memory
“When [Tom] Brady was single, the two of them were at a function, and Brady expressed an interest in dating his daughter Ivanka,” Newsom writes. “The quarterback asked for her number, and Trump gave it to him. Brady called Ivanka and left a message, but she never called him back.”
That unreturned message set the stage for what Newsom describes as an unmistakably awkward moment. After Brady shared that Ivanka hadn’t called him back, Trump said he picked up the phone to ask his daughter directly what had happened.
“I said, ‘Jesus, you know, Tom Brady. What the hell is going on? Why aren’t you calling this guy back?'” Trump reportedly told Newsom, recounting the story in the memoir. “And she tells me, ‘Oh, I’m in love.'”
Her answer, of course, wasn’t about Brady. Ivanka was already in a relationship with Kushner at the time, a relationship that would lead to marriage in 2009 and eventually three children.
According to Newsom‘s account, Trump gestured toward Kushner during the exchange and added, “Not the guy whose father just got out of prison?”
The reference was to Jared‘s father, Charles Kushner, who served time in federal prison before later being pardoned by Trump and appointed U.S. ambassador to France, a detail that has drawn attention in political reporting.
“It was dead air for a moment,” Newsom writes. “Kushner wore a face that somehow retained its impassivity. He finally muttered, with the slyest grin, ‘Yes, sir. I know I wasn’t your first choice.'”
Trump then turned back to Newsom and reiterated his preference. “Not even close, right, Gavin? Tom Brady. Tom Brady.”
The episode, while anecdotal, underscores the largerthanlife personalities involved. Brady retired as one of the most decorated quarterbacks in NFL history with seven Super Bowl titles and countless records.
In a 2020 interview on The Howard Stern Show, he addressed the longrunning speculation about a link to Ivanka directly: “That was a long time ago in my life,” Brady said. “Did I consider dating her? No, there was never that where we ever dated or anything like that.”
Newsom‘s memoir positions the incident as one of several revealing moments captured during his interactions with Trump, offering a glimpse into how personal anecdotes and political power sometimes intersect.
The story, which reads more like a vignette about mismatched expectations than a political bombshell, has already sparked commentary across media outlets for its mix of humor, discomfort, and celebrity allure.
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