In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Ivanka Trump spoke about her role in the White House and her attitudes to the Trump administration's controversial policies.
Last week, Ivanka announced that she would be unpaid for her work in the administration. Since November, she has been involved in her father's policies and even sat in on state meetings. Her husband, Jared Kushner, is however an employee whose job covers an enormous amount of issues, ranging from peace in the Middle East to relations with China and Mexico.
Agree to disagree
Speaking to CBS's Gayle King, Ivanka said: "Where I disagree with my father, he knows it and I express myself with total candor.
Where I agree, I fully lean in and support the agenda.” There have been leaks in the press about Ivanka being a moderating influence on her father's administration -most notably with gay rights and environmental protection. However, Trump is still planning to revoke laws meant for combating climate change, which were passed during Obama's term.
Ivanka did not go into detail about which issues in particular, she disagrees with, only that there are many ways to have your voice heard. Recently it has been revealed that Ivanka would be an unpaid adviser in the White House. She has already sat in on Trump's meeting with the Japanese prime minister and was part of the state visit with Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
'Complicit'
A recent Saturday Night Live sketch titled "Complicit", in which Scarlett Johansson plays Ivanka, drew negative attention to the president's daughter. The sketch exposes Ivanka's hypocritical attitudes, and presents her as complicit in Trump's policies. "If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact, then I’m complicit," she answered on CBS News.
Even though her reaction to the sketch was cold at best, it was much calmer than her father's explosive Twitter tirades against Alec Baldwin, who impersonates him on SNL.
During Donald Trump's campaign, there were hopes by some women's rights activists that Ivanka would be a source of protection for women in D.C. After all, she did push a pro women's rights platform during the campaign.
However, she stayed either silent or absent as policies which impact women were sent to the White House. For example, last month when Trump eliminated maternity-care coverage from his health-care bill, Ivanka was on a ski trip. She concluded the interview by saying that she hopes time will prove she did a good job, and that her father's administration will be successful.
