Ivanka Trump Briefly Takes Dad’s Seat at G20 Summit

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(Newswire.net — July 14, 2017) –“Because an unelected, unqualified, unprepared New York socialite is the best person to represent American national interests,” Anne Applebaum, an American journalist and Pulitzer Prize–winning author, wrote on Twitter after she had seen a picture of Ivanka Trump sitting in her father’s seat on Saturday at G20 session on “Partnership with Africa, Migration and Health.”

She was sitting between British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel sat one seat away.

“Why the hell is Ivanka Trump sitting in for daddy at G20 meetings?! What are her qualifications? Who voted for her?,” Charles M. Blow, a journalist, commentator and columnist for The New York Times wrote on his Twitter account.

Another negative comment came from Nicholas Donabet Kristof, a reporter, columnist and two-time Pulitzer winning journalist.

“Ivanka fills in for her dad beside Xi Jinping. To me, it feels banana-republicky for the US to be represented by an inexperienced daughter,” Kristof wrote.

The controversial images of Ivanka in Donald Trump’s chair have been published on Twitter by a member of the Russian delegation at the Group 20 Summit in Hamburg, Svetlana Lukash.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that she did not mind Ivanka sitting next to high-ranking officials, because the delegations themselves decided who would sit at the table in the absence of the president.

“Ivanka Trump was part of the American delegation, so that is something that other delegations also do, and it is very well known that she works in the White House and that she is also engaged in certain initiatives,” Merkel told a news conference, commenting on the photos of the first daughter and one of President Trump’s top White House aides.

A senior Trump administration official confirmed that Ivanka Trump had stepped in for her father.

“Ivanka was sitting in the back and then briefly joined the main table when the President had to step out,” official said, adding that when other leaders stepped out, their seats were also briefly filled by others.