Ivanka Trump takes dad’s seat at G-20 table
HAMBURG, Germany — Ivanka Trump was deputized to fill in for her father at a table of world leaders at the Group of 20 summit on Saturday, reigniting questions about the unorthodox mixing of family and government in President Donald Trump’s White House.
The moment, captured in a pixelated photo by a member of Russia’s delegation, seemed to perfectly capture the scope of the first daughter’s expansive influence in Trump’s administration. But it drew sharp criticism by some who say that the move demonstrates Trump’s flouting of democratic norms against such familial arrangements as well-established diplomatic protocols.
Former NATO Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who served as a diplomat under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, said the incident was a breach of protocols for such summits. Those traditions are intended to send a clear message to world leaders about who has power in the government.
Burns said in his experience at summits, the secretary of state would take the president’s place at the table.
The move by Ivanka Trump placed her between British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Also Saturday, following a push from Ivanka Trump, the World Bank announced a new program designed to boost female entrepreneurs in developing countries and fight the norms that hold them back, such as uneven access to loans.
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, as the bank calls it, announced Saturday it had raised $325 million from numerous countries, with $50 million coming from the United States.