Ivanka’s cushy White House job .

Ivanka Trump’s new role at the White House proves nepotism is alive and well in Trump land

IT MUST be nice to have a powerful father who can open a few doors for you. Reality TV personality, highflying business executive, socialite, author, fashion model – none of this would have been possible for Ivanka Trump without the help of her influential dad. And after Donald Trump was sworn in as America’s new president earlier this year another door swung open for her – this one more glamorous and highprofile than all the rest. Ever since her Donald Trump has handed the reins of his business empire over to his sons, Donald Jnr (left) and Eric, while he’s president. dad moved into the White House she’s been at his side, advising him, taking part in high-level meetings and rubbing shoulders with heads of state such as Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Germany’s Angela Merkel.

So it didn’t come as much of a surprise when it was recently announced that Ivanka (35) has been given an office in the White House.

It was a sensitive issue so Trump (70) had to tread cautiously. He’d caused an outcry back in January by appointing her husband, Jared Kushner (36), as one of his senior advisers. It seems that since then he’s been biding his time, waiting for the controversy to die down so he could make his daughter’s position in his administration official.

While the appointment was expected, it doesn’t mean everybody is happy about it. With only a bachelor of economics degree under her belt, Ivanka is hardly qualified to be advising the president – clearly she’d never be in this role if she weren’t Trump’s daughter.

It’s blatant nepotism but it’s entirely legal. On the day of the presidential inauguration the justice department determined that it would be legal for Trump to appoint Kushner – although US president Donald Trump has employed his daughter, Ivanka, at the White House so she can be his “eyes and ears”. ABOVE RIGHT: Sitting at her dad’s desk in the Oval Office when they hosted Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau. RIGHT: She also shared this photo with her Instagram fans of her and her husband, Jared Kushner, at the White House. Trump’s son-in-law had to be sworn into this role.

The difference with Ivanka’s job is that she doesn’t earn a salary so she doesn’t have to be sworn in. This means she can’t be held accountable for any of her actions.

Ivanka’s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, says Ivanka is there to advise her father on issues such as women in the workplace, childcare, parental leave and job training. Over and above this, Gorelick adds, she’s there to be his “eyes and ears”, which seems to imply she’s being given licence to do whatever she – or her dad – wants. It’s a situation that raises a hornet’s nest of ethical questions.

In her role Ivanka gets an office on the second floor of the West Wing, security clearance – possibly giving her access to the nation’s most classified secrets – as