Like her husband, Jared, Ivanka Trump is wearing many hats in her role as a “special assistant” to the president. Although she has no defined role, she has been given her own chief of staff, who presumably will oversee a full staff attending to Ivanka Trump, something that is wholly unprecedented in American history. Her role pushes ethical boundaries relating to nepotism rules in the White House, but that may not be the only ethical boundary she’s testing. According to Mike Allen at Axios, she’s been busy collecting donations from foreign governments for a yet-to-be-announced fund to empower female entrepreneurs:
Ivanka Trump told me yesterday from Berlin that she has begun building a massive fund that will benefit female entrepreneurs around the globe. Both countries and companies will contribute to create a pool of capital to economically empower women.
Collecting donations for a “massive fund” from foreign governments while working in the White House? Do we seriously need to spell out why this is problematic? And who are the early benefactors of this fund?
- Under the radar: Canadians, Germans and a few Middle Eastern countries have already made quiet commitments, as have several corporations, a source said.
What could go wrong with foreign governments, international corporations and individuals making “quiet commitments” to a fund the public has no information about, no oversight, run by an unpaid “special assistant” to the president who also happens to be his daughter? Even if the intentions are above board and the goal is truly to empower women around the world, it is beyond inappropriate for a family member of a sitting U.S. president, one who has been elevated to unprecedented heights and acts as an extension of her father, to be going around the world with her hand out asking for donations.