Thread: Ivanka Trump’s Presence at Meeting With Japan’s Leader Raises Questions

Ivanka Trump’s Presence at Meeting With Japan’s Leader Raises Questions

By ERIC LIPTON NOV. 18, 2016

WASHINGTON — The potential for conflicts of interest between President-elect Donald J. Trump and his family’s business ventures emerged again Thursday evening, when a photograph was distributed that showed his daughter Ivanka at a meeting between Mr. Trump and the prime minister of Japan.

News reporters were not allowed to attend the session, Mr. Trump’s first with a foreign head of state, and no summary was provided about what was discussed. A separate photograph was distributed — press photographers were not allowed to cover the event — showing that Jared Kushner, Ms. Trump’s husband, was present for at least part of the gathering.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan said after the meeting that he had a “very candid discussion” with Mr. Trump. He did not discuss who else attended the gathering or elaborate on the topics discussed.

Ms. Trump will be among the members of the president-elect’s family who will be placed in charge of Mr. Trump’s business enterprises, which include an international chain of hotels with operations in Latin America, Europe and North America.

She serves as vice president for development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization, and the company’s website says one of her “primary focuses has been to bring the Trump Hotel brand to global markets.”

She also owns a jewelry business, Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, with the Trump Organization describing her as “one of the most recognized and influential young businesswomen today.”

After Mr. Trump’s transition office was asked by The New York Times about allowing Ms. Trump to attend the meeting with the Japanese prime minister, an individual close to the family, who said she did not have authorization to provide her name, hinted that Ms. Trump would not be attending meetings like this in the future.

“Mr. Trump has always encouraged Ivanka and his children to attend meetings with him,” the person close to the family said. “This meeting in question was very informal. However, they obviously need to adjust to the new realities at hand, which they will.”

This week, Ms. Trump’s jewelry company sent out a notice to reporters with a photograph of her wearing a $10,800 gold bangle bracelet that she had worn during an interview her family did with “60 Minutes,” trying to use the appearance as an opportunity to sell more items.

“Please find attached a style alert of Ivanka wearing her favorite bangle from the Metropolis Collection over the weekend on 60 Minutes,” Monica Marder, the vice president for sales at Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, said in the email.

A notice sent to reporters with a photograph of Ms. Trump wearing a $10,800 gold bangle bracelet that she had worn during an interview on “60 Minutes.” The email tried to use the appearance as an opportunity to sell more items.

Abigail Klem, the president of Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, apologized for the promotion of Ms. Trump’s bracelet after the “60 Minutes” interview, attributing it to “a well-intentioned marketing employee.” Ms. Klem added, “We are proactively discussing new policies and procedures with all of our partners going forward.”

Ms. Trump’s presence also disturbed some current and former State Department officials, including Moira Whelan, who left the department in July after serving as a deputy assistant secretary of state for public affairs.

Anyone present for such a conversation between two heads of state should, at a minimum, have security clearance, Ms. Whelan said, and should also be an expert in Japanese affairs.

“Meeting of two heads of state is never an informal occurrence,” Ms. Whelan said. “Even a casual mention or a nod of agreement or an assertion left unchallenged can be interpreted in different ways.”

Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight said that regardless of what was discussed at the meeting, it was inappropriate for Ms. Trump to be present at a private meeting among such a small group of people given that she is an executive at a corporation involved in international business development.

These early episodes demonstrate, Ms. Brian said, why Mr. Trump must put his assets into a blind trust, in which an independent party manages them, instead of turning them over to his children to manage, as Mr. Trump has proposed.

“You can’t have people with financial conflicts of interest mixing with White House business,” Ms. Brian said.

The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial on Friday, went so far as to urge Mr. Trump to sell off all his hotels, golf courses and other assets, and then take that cash and turn it over to a blind trust, as that would be the only way to avoid all possible conflicts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us...hinzo-abe.html

Honestly? What in the hell is wrong with you people?? Are you on drugs, are you mentally ill, has the Obama government implanted devices in your brains?

1. this is a private personal meeting between Trump and Abe.
2. this is an informal meeting, a meet and greet, without an agenda.
3. this is a meeting Abe requested and Trump set up at his own home on his own property to accommodate.
4. this is a meeting that Trump can invite anyone to that Abe doesn't object to.
5. this is the United States, a nation of free people with free speech and right to assemble.

GET A LIFE, NEW YORK TIMES!! GET A NEW EDITOR! GET NEW REPORTERS WITH SOME CREDENTIALS!! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF CLINTON'S BUM!!

You're recurring displays of bias and stupidity are a total embarrassment to the United States.

It's a shame you weren't as interested in Obama and Clinton meetings during their terms of office. Trump isn't even in office yet. You all are jealous, that's what it is. You're like peasants who don't know how to act in the company of great leaders. You're so used to politicians with no money who walk out with hundreds of millions of dollars in pay to play schemes you don't know how to act in the presence of great people who simply want to fix our country. Oh yes, Obama has his somewhere, don't doubt it for a moment, I mean open borders and free trade?? Oh yeah, he's got his scattered all over the place. These hacks don't sell out a nation for 8 years and walk away empty-handed.

Liberalism is a mental disorder.

But it's OK for Obama to drag his family and in-laws all over the world to meetings at tax payers expense. But that is ok right? Trump isn't even in office yet. I am so sick of this picking his every move apart and every word. We the people know what he is saying or trying to say. Seems awful strange that the main stream media feels the need to translate it to us with their own translation. We already suspect that Trumps son inlaw is going to be an advisor why shouldn't his wife attend? Funny how now it is a conflict of Interest but Hellery and wild willy it was ok to sell countries out!