Choosing an awkward time to exhibit what a NBC spokesperson later insisted was only his seldom seen sense of humor, The Apprentice star Donald Trump joked about dating Ivanka Trump, his 24-year-old daughter, during the pair's Monday appearance on The View.
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"It would be really disappointing -- not really -- but it would depend on what's inside the magazine," Trump told The View co-hosts in response to a question about how he would react if Ivanka posed for Playboy magazine.
"I don't think Ivanka would do that -- although she does have a very nice figure. I've said if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her," the 59-year-old billionaire added in comment that drew laughs from the show's studio audience.
"Who are you, Woody Allen?" The View co-host Joy Behar, in a reference to Allen's controversial relationship with Soon-Yi Previn (the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow, Allen's former lover of many years), responded.
Ivanka, a Trump Organization vice president and former model, was appearing on the ABC daytime show to promote her five-episode appearance as a replacement for regular Apprentice advisor Carolyn Kepcher.
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Later, NBC representative Jim Dowd told The Associated Press that Trump "was absolutely joking." "He was making fun of himself for his tendency to date younger women," explained Dowd. "It’s a sense of humor that people don't see (from him) all the time."
Twice divorced, Trump married 35-year-old model Melania Knauss in January 2005. The couple is expecting their first child this spring. In addition to 24-year-old Ivanka, Trump also has two sons (28-year-old Donald Jr. -- who will also be appearing on this season's The Apprentice -- and 22-year-old Eric) from his fifteen year first marriage to Ivana Zelnickova. Trump also has another daughter, 12-year-old Tiffany, from his six year marriage to second wife Marla Maples.