President Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump took part in the G20 Summit, during which she sat among the world leaders. On Saturday, when she took her father's seat, this action prompted a wave of criticism on social media. As the White House official reported, Ivanka Trump, who had been sitting in the back during a meeting, joined the main table between British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping when President Trump came. Moreover, he stressed that the leaders changed seats - when somebody left the table, another person sat in his place.
The public reaction
The public claimed that only elected members were chosen for such a high-level event. Moreover, Ivanka's movement made German Chancellor Angela Merkel take one seat away. Her presence at the meeting was very unusual, The Washington Post's Abby Phillip said, and it made people curious about the role that Trump’s family members have in the administration. A U.S. spokesman for Donald Trump's daughter noted that she “briefly joined the main table when the President had to step out,” according to The Washington Post.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, her husband, are the President's senior advisers, while Kushner is also the head of the new Office of American Innovation. Trump did not speak at the session, but Ivanka's presence was enough to warrant a huge outcry on social media.
According to social media, some people consider that Donald Trump never makes a strong difference between family and political officials in his administration.
The authorities' claims about Ivanka Trump
After getting concerns about her role as an adviser, Ivanka Trump made a statement, in which she announced that she is an unpaid employee in the White House, and has to be subject the same rules as other federal employees.
She believes that she had been working in good faith with the White House to address her real role.
According to Angela Merkel's comments after the session, she tried to defend Ivanka Trump. She explained to reporters that it should be decided in the delegations if the president should be present for a meeting or not, or who will take the chair, stressing that Ivanka Trump was the part of the US delegation.
It is worth noting that Ivanka Trump had already been criticized for her role in the U.S. administration before. When she appeared at a meeting with her father and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in November, the public's reaction showed that it could raise a possible "conflict of interests.
President Trump tweeted that he is proud of his older daughter, saying that being a member of his administration makes many extra difficulties for her, as a daughter of the president. Donald Trump Jr. also supported Ivanka Trump on Twitter, saying that his sister is very smart.
