Ivanka Trump was deputized to fill in for her father at a table of world leaders at the Group of 20 summit on Saturday, reigniting questions about the unorthodox mixing of family and government in President Donald Trump's White House.
The moment, captured in a pixelated photo by a member of Russia's delegation, seemed to perfectly capture the scope of the first daughter's expansive influence in Trump's administration. But it drew sharp criticism by some who say that the move demonstrates Trump's flouting of democratic norms against such familial arrangements as well-established diplomatic protocols.
Former NATO ambassador Nicholas Burns, who served as a diplomat under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, said the incident was a breach of protocols for such summits. Those traditions are intended to send a clear message to world leaders about who has power in the government.
Burns said in his experience at summits, the secretary of state would take the president's place at the table.
"This is a group of the 20 most powerful leaders in the world in the 20 most powerful countries in the world," Burns said. "It conveys that impression and we are a democracy and that's also important here."
"Authority is not conferred upon family members because of the president's position," he added.
Trump and other world leaders of the G-20 sat around a massive table for a working session on "Partnership With Africa, Migration and Health" when Ivanka relieved her father, who had to leave the room for additional meetings. The move placed her squarely between British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"Yes, it stuck out," said a senior European official who took part in the G-20 talks and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. "The very fact that his daughter is senior adviser smacks of the kind of nepotism not seen since John F. Kennedy named Robert F. Kennedy as attorney general."
Some critics online compared Ivanka Trump's presence at the table to a "banana republic" and argued that she is both "unelected" and "unqualified" to step into a role usually filled by officials with policy expertise.
A White House official said that the topic of conversation at that point in the meeting had shifted into one area of focus for Ivanka Trump: supporting female entrepreneurs in Africa.
"Ivanka was sitting in the back and then briefly joined the main table when the president had to step out," the official said, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the meeting. "When other leaders stepped out, their seats were also briefly filled by others."
Trump's presence was unusual given that government ministers or senior officials are typically the ones called to stand in for heads of state at such sessions.
Trump, on the other hand, is both the president's daughter and a White House aide with the title of "assistant to the president." She has focused on issues of women's empowerment and workplace development but maintains broad influence in the administration.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump and her father announced the United States' $50 million commitment to a new World Bank fund dedicated to supporting female entrepreneurs in developing countries.
This was not the first summit meeting that she has participated in. On Thursday, she and her husband, Jared Kushner, another Trump adviser, joined the president at a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a White House official confirmed. Kushner also participated in Trump's bilateral meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Friday.
Asked at a news conference about Ivanka Trump's presence at the table Saturday, Merkel did not weigh in on whether it was appropriate: "The delegations themselves decide, should the president not be present for a meeting, who will take the chair, and Ivanka Trump was part of the American delegation."
Reuters
Sun Jul 09 2017
Ivanka Trump attends the Womenis Entrepreneurship Finance event during the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017. - Photo Reuters/Michael Kappeler/Pool
KPDN Kelantan sita 34,871 liter minyak diesel di Kuala Krai
Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Kos Sara Hidup (KPDN) Kelantan menyita kira-kira 34,871 liter minyak diesel bernilai lebih RM74,900 di sebuah premis perniagaan di Kuala Krai, semalam.
Baki stok simpanan air di empat empangan pada paras kritikal - NADMA
Empat empangan air di Johor, Pulau Pinang dan Kedah menunjukkan penurunan paras simpanan sumber air mentah pada paras kritikal setakat semalam susulan cuaca panas.
Pesawat Maritim Malaysia bantu padam kebakaran di Miri
Maritim Malaysia telah mengatur gerak pesawat Bombardier CL-415 miliknya, bagi membantu dalam operasi memadamkan kebakaran hutan tanah gambut secara bersepadu.
Polis tahan lelaki bakar mercun di tengah jalan raya
Polis menahan seorang pembantu bengkel yang disyaki membakar mercun di tengah jalan raya, ketika perarakan pengebumian berdekatan sebuah pasar raya di Banting, Selangor, semalam.
Usaha kumpulan minoriti serang dasar kerajaan perlu dibendung - Ahmad Zahid
Ahmad Zahid menyifatkan kumpulan minoriti itu umpama 'biawak hidup' kepada sebarang perancangan memajukan negara.
NADMA laksana pembenihan awan di Papar, Lahad Datu dan Tawau
Operasi itu dilaksanakan bagi mendapatkan sumber air mencukupi di kawasan tadahan hujan ekoran cuaca panas.
Sultan Selangor berkenan lancar Tabung Pembangunan Ehsan Selangor-Gaza
Sultan Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah hari ini berkenan melancarkan Tabung Pembangunan Ehsan Selangor-Gaza.
PADU: Keraguan pengguna patut menjadi satu mesej yang kerajaan kena faham - Pakar
Masalah itu tercetus akibat kurangnya komunikasi yang cermat dan akhirnya, ia membawa kepada pemahaman yang bersegmen dan kompleks.
Jumlah korban serangan di dewan konsert Rusia meningkat kepada 143
Jumaat lepas, sekumpulan lelaki bersenjata melepaskan tembakan rambang di Dewan Bandaraya Crocus, Krasnogorsk dalam Wilayah Moscow.
Kerjasama dua hala India-Malaysia bergantung kepada kepercayaan, kebolehpercayaan bersama - Menteri Luar
Memupuk kepercayaan dan kebolehpercayaan bersama sebagai asas untuk kerjasama dua hala antara India dan Malaysia adalah sangat penting, kata Menteri Luar India, Dr S. Jaishankar.
Bekas Canselor Jerman Angela Merkel terima anugerah tertinggi negara
Merkel memegang jawatan canselor dari 2005 hingga 2021.
Jerman hentikan operasi tiga loji nuklear terakhir
Jerman menghentikan operasi tiga loji tenaga nuklear terakhirnya pada Sabtu sebagai sebahagian daripada peralihan kepada tenaga boleh diperbaharui.
Canselor Jerman: Era pemerintahan Angela Merkel tamat selepas 16 tahun
Olaf Scholz secara rasmi dilantik sebagai Canselor Jerman yang baharu pada Rabu menggantikan Angela Merkel.
COVID-19: Jerman debat isu wajibkan vaksinasi
Pada Ahad, kes jangkitan koronavirus sepanjang tujuh hari lalu di Jerman meningkat ke paras tertinggi sejak wabak itu bermula untuk hari ke-14 berturut-turut.
COVID-19: Jerman bakal kenakan peraturan baharu
Peraturan baharu itu akan dibawa ke Parlimen untuk diluluskan hari ini.
COVID-19: Angela Merkel rayu rakyat Jerman segera dapatkan vaksin
Ini kerana, kata Merkel, kadar jangkitan COVID-19 di negara itu mencecah angka baharu tertinggi dengan bilangan korban turut meningkat.
Sekatan Jerman terhadap minyak sawit berdasarkan kepada maklumat palsu
Sekatan Jerman terhadap minyak sawit adalah berdasarkan kepada maklumat palsu dan secara sengaja tidak merujuk kepada fakta alam sekitar.
Parti Canselor Angela Merkel mula kempen pilihan raya secara rasmi
Parti Kristian Demokrat (CDU) yang kini dipimpin Armin Laschet berharap dapat terus mentadbir negara selepas Merkel umum mahu mengundur diri.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Jerman bakal kenakan caj ujian COVID-19 kepada yang enggan terima vaksin
Tiada lagi ujian saringan COVID-19 percuma untuk golongan yang enggan menerima vaksin, kata Canselor Angela Merkel pada Selasa.