Ivanka Trump, in an interview Monday with “Fox & Friends,” said she has been surprised by the “viciousness” and “ferocity” that greeted her father’s presidency -- but also said President Trump felt “very vindicated” by former FBI Director James Comey's recent Senate testimony. 
 
 Ivanka, a political novice like her dad who has been thrust into the Washington spotlight as a senior adviser to the president, nevertheless glided past the more controversial interview topics like a seasoned vet Monday. But she did provide a glimpse into the first family’s daily battle with detractors. 
 
 “There’s a level of viciousness that I was not expecting,” Ivanka said, in between promoting Trump’s initiatives in infrastructure and job creation. “I was not expecting the intensity of this experience.” 
 
 She added: “But this isn’t supposed to be easy. My father, and this administration, expects to be transformative.” 
 
 President Trump has been routinely assailed by a Democratic opposition that, at the least, seeks to stall his ambitious agenda and, in some corners of the party, seeks impeachment. 
 
 “Some of the distractions and some of the ferocity, I was a little blindsided by on a personal level,” Ivanka said. 
 
 She said, however, that Comey’s testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday backed up much of what her dad had been telling the press – to little avail – for months: that Trump was not being personally investigated for any alleged Russia ties and that Comey had orchestrated a leak to The New York Times on at least one occasion. 
 
 “My father felt very vindicated in all the statements that he’s been making and feels incredibly optimistic,” Ivanka said. “[We’re] incredibly focused on the reason we all went to Washington and what we’re fighting for.” 
 
 Ivanka spoke about the Trump administration's efforts to upgrade the skills of working Americans in an effort to match those who are searching for work with jobs. Noting that there were 6 million available jobs in the U.S., she said the White House was "trying to bridge the gap between skills and the jobs." 
 
 Ivanka also praised President Trump's first foreign trip, during which he visited Saudi Arabia, Israel and Italy. Ivanka, who converted to Judaism before she married Trump senior aide Jared Kushner, said she was particularly struck by a visit to the Western Wall. 
 
 "Every day in this experience has been surreal, but that was truly an unbelievable moment," she said. 
 
 Dismissing rumors that Kushner was embroiled in so-called palace intrigue, Ivanka said Team Trump is trying to ignore the news cycle and work toward fulfilling campaign promises. 
 
 "Ultimately," she said, "we're really focused on why the American people elected Donald Trump president." 

 Story highlights Ivanka Trump made a rare television appearance Monday morning 
 
 She is back in the spotlight for the White House's workforce development week 
 
 Washington (CNN) Ivanka Trump said Monday she is surprised by the "viciousness" of the media covering her father's presidency, referring to the growing "cloud" of distractions resulting from the Russia probe. 
 
 President Donald Trump's daughter and top adviser also said on "Fox & Friends" that her father felt "vindicated" by James Comey's testimony last week before the Senate intelligence committee, in which the former FBI director said there was no investigation into Trump personally during his time at the FBI. 
 
 "My father felt very vindicated in all the statements that he's been making and feels incredibly optimistic," she said. "With all the noise, with all the intensity of media coverage and obviously what makes headlines, ultimately, we're really focused on why the American people elected Donald Trump as president." 
 
 Asked whether it was hard to get things done in light of the ongoing Russia investigation , Trump admitted she was "a little blindsided" by distractions she attributed to media "ferocity." 
 
 "It is hard. And there is 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 intends 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 by on a personal level," she said.
– Ivanka Trump says she never expected life in the White House would be easy—nor did she expect the "level of viciousness" she has encountered among the critics of her father. "I was a little blindsided by it," she says in an interview with Fox News. "I was not expecting the intensity of this experience." Trump, who is officially an adviser to her father, said she was "trying to keep my head down, not listen to the noise and just work really hard to make a positive impact." In other comments, Trump said her father felt "very vindicated" because James Comey confirmed he wasn't personally under investigation; dismissed speculation about White House back-stabbing, chalking it up to a 24-7 news cycle hungry for "salacious" rumors; and said husband Jared "loves" his role as special adviser and head of the new Office of American Innovation. Meanwhile, CNN thinks Ivanka's comments about the nastiness of critics are "striking" given President Trump's penchant for striking out himself.