IVANKA TRUMP

America’s Most Influential First Daughter In 100 Years

As the Trumps replace the Obamas as the country’s First Family, one member of the family in particular has the media’s attention.

Ivanka Trump has long been seen as the key to her father’s public relations with the American people. A successful businesswoman and mother, Ivanka was touted throughout the campaign — along with Trump’s other offspring — as evidence that the soon-to-be president is not that bad.

That idea was legitimized when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, when pressed for something nice to say about Donald, said, “His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. I don’t agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that.”

During the campaign, some suggested Ivanka would be a better president than her father whom she helped win support for by addressing the feminist concerns of maternity leave and equal pay that the wall-building, tax-cutting rhetoric missed.

Now that her father has won the presidency, however, liberals are more concerned with Ivanka and what her role will be.

This week it was announced that she would step down as executive vice president of development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization and her namesake fashion brand as she helps settle her family into their new Washington D.C. home. The news also comes as her husband, Jared Kushner, accepts a senior advisory role at the White House leaving many to wonder how much influence Ivanka will have as a wealthy, adult daughter of the president and wife to his senior adviser. The scenario is somewhat unprecedented.

The Obama children were too young to do anything but go to school and stand beside their mother and father at ceremonies. The same went for Chelsea Clinton.

For those opposed to a Trump presidency, however, Ivanka just might be their saviour.

The New York Times recently called Ivanka the most influential first daughter since Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Ivanka, herself, has said she will not take a formal position with the White House, but she seems to have already taken an informal one.

Besides sitting in on diplomatic meetings after Trump’s victory and being handed the phone when her father doesn’t know what to say to a policy question, Ivanka has since handled several different facets of what could become her father’s policies.

According to media reports, Ivanka has spoken to House of Representatives minority leader Nancy Pelosi about feminine-specific policies as well as Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio about climate change. Notably, these are policy issues her father has failed to handle well in the public eye.

This week, Ivanka reportedly attended a dinner to pick the brains of more than a dozen wealthy businesswomen, The Washington Post reported; one of those women was Dina Powell, a former executive of Goldman Sachs who the Post reported earned an advisory role in the White House at Ivanka’s insistence.

In Washington, Trump’s transition team told CNN that the tax reform package being pushed through Congress was influenced by Ivanka and will include a childcare reform proposal that will allow for a childcare tax credit and six weeks of maternity leave, never mind that the policy’s $300 billion price could be simultaneously offset by the government cutting the taxes paid by the richest American taxpayers.

Herein lies the value of Ivanka to her father’s administration.

Just like the doublespeak coming out of the White House currently, Ivanka’s messages publicly counteract the womanizing behaviour of her father, and her progressive ideals contradict her father’s newfound conservative platform.

The real question at this point is, if Trump’s children are the best part of him, why are Democrats so afraid of them? After all, Ivanka is the Democrats' best chance to continue to pass progressive policies.

The left has continued to tout anti-nepotism laws as proof that Trump’s children (or children-in-law) should have no place in his administration.

Of the children, Ivanka is seen as perhaps the most powerful figure in the family and the one who most holds her father’s ear.

When dealing with a man, many leftists were hoping to block from office altogether, shouldn’t it be a victory if the seemingly most level-headed of the Trumps is pulling the strings backstage?

Despite the mystery surrounding her role, nobody can seem to find a negative quality of Ivanka.

She received flak for wearing (i.e. marketing) a $10,000 diamond bracelet sold by her brand on a television interview. Some of her feminist policy ideas have also received criticism for being antithetical to feminism for seeking reform for maternity leave and not paternity leave. She has also appeared to some to be giving in to male entitlement by quitting her business and moving her family to Washington while her husband gets a seat in the White House.

While those criticisms may or may not be justified, at least she’s not her father.

It was revealed during the campaign that Trump never raised his kids as he was often working. That helps to explain why his kids are admired by the majority of the public.

And now that she is officially the first daughter, the mainstream media cannot stop speculating as to how she will flex her power and influence as a new age Jackie Onassis.

If Ivanka never takes an official White House role, will she be a glorified lobbyist? Will she offer her father advice over the phone and occasionally over dinner? Will she be more of a first lady than Melania Trump?

Trump’s lack of policy knowledge is well-documented. He reportedly offered the VP position to John Kasich with the disclaimer that Kasich would do most of the work crafting policy.

In Ivanka, Trump has a senior advisor, lobbyist, public relations assistant and campaign manager all in one.

If she does help her father craft policies that address women’s rights, climate change and family values, is that such a bad thing?

It remains to be seen what role Ivanka will have, if any. But if America did secretly elect Ivanka Trump to the nation’s highest office, it could be worse. It could be Donald Trump calling all the shots himself.

Ivanka Trump – from model to businesswoman & now first daughter

Born on October 30, 1981 in Manhattan to Donald Trump and Czech-American model Ivana, Ivanka was in the limelight since her childhood. Her parents’ marriage ended when she was 10 years old and she soon moved to a boarding school Chaplin, and then later to Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut. Unsatisfied at Choate, she started modelling at the age of 14. Promising her parents that she will maintain her grades, Ivanka signed up with Elite Model Management and got her first magazine cover on Seventeen magazine in 1997. She started walking on the runways for top brands such as Versace and even featured in Elle, co-hosting Miss Teen USA 1997 pageant, while she was just 16 years old.

Growing up, Ivanka found the world of modelling too ruthless and started taking a keen interest in the family real estate business. She graduated from Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania and spent two years working for a real estate company other than her father’s to learn the ropes. Ivanka then joined the Trump Organization and has since climbed the ladder. Until recently she was working as the Executive Vice President of acquisitions and development. She also founded the Trump Hotel Collection, a luxury hotel management firm, with her two older brothers Donald Jr and Eric.

From 2006 onwards, she built on her celebrity surname, by appearing as a co-judge with her father in NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. She also published the New York Times bestseller The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life in 2009 and launched her fashion and lifestyle brand – the Ivanka Trump Collection.

On the political front, Ivanka has supported both Republican and Democratic Parties at different times. In 2007 she supported Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid and is also friends with Chelsea Clinton, Hillary’s daughter. In 2012 she supported Mitt Romney. Ivanka tied the knot with real estate developer and entrepreneur Jared Kushner in 2009, and the couple has three children, Arabella Rose (b. July 2011) and sons Joseph Frederick (b. Oct 2013) and Theodore James Kushner (b. Mar 2016). Ivanka converted to Judaism in keeping with her husband’s faith.

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