Ivanka Trump opens up about 'viciousness' that has surrounded her father's administration

Ivanka Trump has opened up in a candid television interview, admitting she was "blindsided" by the "viciousness" that has dogged her father's administration.

Appearing on Fox & Friends, the former fashion model was asked how she was affected by the Russia investigation and other issues that have plagued Donald Trump's administration.

"It is hard and there's a level of viciousness that I was not expecting. I was not expecting the intensity of this experience, but this isn't supposed to be easy. My father and this administration intend to be transformative and we want to do big, bold things and we're looking to change the status quo so I didn't expect it to be easy.

"I think some of the distractions and some of the ferocity was ... I was a little blindsided about it on a personal level."

Trump told host Brian Kilmeade that she was doing her best to ignore the distractions and focus on the task at hand.

"For me, I'm just trying to keep my head down, not listen to the noise and just work really hard to make a positive impact on the lives of many people," she said.

"I mean, if you want to at the end of the day, if you want to think about difficult, it's the factory worker who has been laid off. Difficult is, you know, the mother who has lost a child to opioid abuse."

She also said her father felt "very vindicated" and "optimistic" after former FBI director James Comey's testimony before Congress.

President Trump blasted the ex-FBI director after his appearance, calling him "very cowardly" as it emerged Trump reportedly bottled out of a UK state visit over fears of mass protests.

Donald Trump attacked Comey in a Sunday morning tweet after the ex-FBI director gave evidence to the US Senate Intelligence Committee last week suggesting Trump had tried to pressure him to stop an investigation into his former National Security adviser Michael Flynn.

I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very 'cowardly!'

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2017

Speaking on her recent trip to Israel, Ivanka Trump said it was an "unbelievable" experience.

"I feel blessed and privileged to have been there," she said.

"It was deeply personal for me, as you know standing at the Western Wall in a moment of privacy because it was really just us. It was beyond special."