Ivanka Trump was reportedly once considered as a potential replacement for U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, if Haley had become secretary of state, the New York Times reported Saturday – indicating that President Trump has not lost any of his apparently limitless belief in his daughter’s abilities.
The Times reported Saturday in a broad profile on Ivanka’s husband/White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner that amid Jared’s troubled career and lapses of judgment, some believed that Kushner and Ivanka were so discouraged by their time in the White House that they were looking for a way to return to New York City.
One scenario was reportedly discussed whereby Haley would replace troubled Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Ivanka would, in turn, replace Haley in New York at the United Nations. The Times’ reporting was challenged to a degree by aides to Trump, who said they have not heard that scenario discussed.
Haley has quickly made a name for herself as a powerful voice at the U.N., challenging the U.N.’s anti-Israel bias, forcing China and Russia to get on board in regards to sanctions on North Korea, and a host of other items including getting the U.N. to take a tougher stance on Hezbollah in Lebanon, and pushing for reform of the anti-Israel Human Rights Council.
It is far from clear how Ivanka Trump’s resume or liberal political beliefs would help her follow Haley in enacting the Trump agenda.
The Times report may, however, shed light on a curious meeting between Ms. Trump and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in July. That lunch, which lasted almost two hours at U.N. headquarters, was later described by Ivanka as being about women’s empowerment, and to follow up on the launch of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative — a World Bank project that she had supported and that would attempt to make $1 billion in capital available to help women’s empowerment.
“I was honored to be invited to lunch with United Nations Secretary General Guterres to discuss women’s economic empowerment, entrepreneurship, and workforce development,” she said on Facebook.
However seriously the outlandish idea was taken by President Trump, it now appears to have died down. The Times reports that, since the departure of Breitbart News Executive Chairman and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in August, the power couple are now “likelier to stay [in D.C.] for the foreseeable future.”
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.
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