There is no one single legitimate reason why Ivanka Trump would be sitting through an official meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, writes Ksenija Pavlovic, Editor-in-Chief of the Pavlovic Today.
Now this is really starting to look like a complete privatization of political power. President-elect’s daughter Ivanka Trump has placed herself in the lounging chair at the official meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that took place at Trump Tower. In what capacity did she do that?
Since President-elect Donald J. Trump won the election, political leaders have started visiting him at his three-floor apartment at the Trump Tower. From the get- go, it all looked like a scene from a prime time soap opera, almost as if The Carringtons had won the election, coupled with the populist postcard of Donald Trump and leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage posing together in front of the golden doors at the Trump’s estate on Manhattan’s 5th Avenue.
The new picture that is flooding social media is the one of Ivanka Trump sitting in a meeting with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and it all looks like one big family reunion, which it exactly was not.
Trump Tower or White House North
President-elect is transitioning and it does not look like he has established clear cut boundaries nor specifically designated roles within his team. Trump needs to show leadership and speak up about the high profile positions he is assigning to his children.
America does not want to be run by “the Family” and while Trump’s business is the legitimate family business, the state of America is not.
Americans would be equally resenting of the idea of Chelsea Clinton sitting through the meeting with the foreign leader and Hillary Clinton.
Foreign leaders are not paying private “home visits” and while some are now trying to defend the picture from the meeting by stating how it was a private convocation, there is no such business as private business when one is the President-Elect of the United States.
With or without violation of conflict of interest, the picture of Ivanka Trump in the official meeting with the PM of Japan simply does not look good. If Trump is planning to appoint his daugher in an official capacity and have her resign from the family business, then he should send a memo. Keeping the situation as it is opens the doors for nepotism and privatization of political power. America is a democracy, not the Dynasty.
It seems as if only Melania Trump knows her protocolar role and is keeping herself out of the Presidential business. For how long, we will see.