USA TODAY International Edition
Critics question Ivanka’s big role
White House defends empowerment efforts
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump was telling U.S. troops about his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday when he introduced Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, then sprang a surprise. “You know who else I have?” Trump teased. “Has anyone ever heard of Ivanka?” The president invited the first daughter to join Pompeo on stage at Osan Air Base in South Korea, jokingly calling them “beauty and the beast.” “She’s going to steal the show,” Trump said. Ivanka Trump was a constant presence at her father’s side during last week’s three-day trip to Asia for the Group of 20 summit in Japan and, later, his meeting with Kim at the De
militarized Zone separating North and South Korea.
Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, both of whom serve as senior advisers to the president, disappeared behind the doors of one of the blue meeting houses that straddle the two Koreas. Later, she sat in on a meeting between her father and Kim.
She described the North Korean experience as “surreal.”
Earlier, at the G-20 summit in Japan, the first daughter sat alongside her father and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a special event and called for women’s economic empowerment to be placed “at the very heart” of the agenda.
Ivanka has often been at her father’s side during his presidency and has accompanied him on other foreign trips, including a state visit to the United Kingdom in late May.
Her role as unofficial diplomat during last week’s events in Asia raised eyebrows and prompted questions about the propriety of the president’s daughter taking on such a high profile in international affairs.
“It would be one thing if, as an adviser, she was working on North Korea policy, but she is not,” said Jenny Town, a fellow at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan policy research center.
“There are numerous questions as to why she was there, and yet it’s become common to wonder why she accompanies him to various events where she’s out of place,” Town said.
Though it’s not the first time a member of a president’s family has tried to become a player in foreign policy, “these recent interventions by Ivanka Trump are not helpful to U.S. interests because she is not fully briefed on the issues and she does not have the appropriate clearances,” said Bill Richardson, who served as the United Nations ambassador under President Bill Clinton.
The White House defended Ivanka’s participation in events surrounding the Asia trip and noted this is nothing new. She has participated in other meetings at the request of the National Security Council and the State Department and has attended the last two G-20 summits. At this year’s summit, the Japanese prime minister invited her to address the leaders on women’s empowerment.
“It is sad but not shocking that the haters choose to attack Ivanka Trump, a senior adviser to the president, when she is promoting U.S. efforts to empower women through strategic partnerships with world leaders,” said Jessica Ditto, White House deputy communication director.
Ditto called the G-20 summit and the visit to South Korea “substantive and historic” and said, “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, our country is more prosperous and secure.”
The White House tweeted a video of Ivanka describing a meeting between Trump, Abe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.
“It was a productive discussion,” she declared, an American flag displayed prominently in the background.
Another video captured a moment when Ivanka was speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the International Monetary Fund’s director, Christine Lagarde.
In a 19-second video clip published on the official Instagram account of the French presidential palace, Macron makes a comment about “social justice,” and Ivanka nods and expresses agreement. May suggests that when the economic aspect is mentioned, a lot of people who wouldn’t listen before suddenly start paying attention.
“Yeah,” Ivanka agrees. “And the same with the defense side of it,” which she says is “male-dominated.”
Lagarde tweeted a photo of herself standing between Ivanka and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and said she was pleased to participate in the women’s empowerment event.
Critics argued that Ivanka should not have had such a prominent role on the G-20 stage and pointed out that she accompanied Trump to the DMZ, but his national security adviser, John Bolton, did not. Bolton, who has taken a more skeptical view of talks with North Korea, was en route to Mongolia.
Michael McFaul, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama, said it is inappropriate for the daughter and son-in-law of the president to work at the White House.
“Taking a spot in these meetings means that Ms. Trump is replacing someone else on Trump’s national security team who could both provide advice to President Trump or benefit from being in the meeting,” McFaul said.
Involving Ivanka in such meetings poses the danger that other countries will get the message to deal directly with her and bypass other advisers, Richardson said.