First daughter Ivanka Trump continued her extraordinary run of informal diplomacy Sunday, this time chatting with the heads of France, Britain, and Canada at an event in Seoul on women’s empowerment – and struggling to get a word in.
The president’s daughter sat in on each of the president’s G20 meetings in Osaka with world leaders including Vladimir Putin, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, joining top officials as her father navigated trade disputes and terror threats.
In South Korea, she was captured on video interacting a trio of powerful leaders: French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and IMF chair Christine Lagarde.
First daughter Ivanka Trump managed to get a word in during a conversation with three world leaders Sunday in Seoul
The French Elysee Palace tweeted out a short video of encounter. According to a BBC correspondent tweeted it out, Trump ‘appears to be trying to get involved in a talk’ among the leaders.
During the exchange, conducted in English, Macron can be heard talking about ‘social justice.’
‘Ivanka – it’s all, yeah,’ Ivanka says, trying to get a word in. May then weighs in: ‘As soon as you talk about an economic aspect a lot of people start listening who wouldn’t otherwise listen.’
White House senior advisor Ivanka Trump applauds as her father U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event with business leaders at a hotel in Seoul, South Korea, June 30, 2019
apanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump talk while advisor to U.S. President Ivanka Trump (C) listens during the women’s empowerment event on the second day of the G20 summit on June 29, 2019 in Osaka, Japan
Ivanka Trump attends a bilateral meeting with her father President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Friday, June 28, 2019. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, second from left and United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, watch
The president’s daughter stood next to IMF chief Christine Lagarde
She ‘tried to get involved’ in the conversation, then weighed in on the ‘male-dominated’ defense business
White House senior advisor Ivanka Trump looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019
Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Ivanka Trump G20 Summit, Day 3, Osaka, Japan. President Trump says he raised the issue of the Jama Khashoggi killing in private with the crown prince
Ivanka Trump speaks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
This gave the president’s daughter, who has been a fixture at world leader meetings and photo-ops, the chance to speak. ‘They start listening. And the same at the defense side. In terms of the whole sort of business – been very male-dominated,’ she says.
She also got the event to hobnob with business leaders at the event – the president called some of them out by name. Husband Jared Kushner was there.
Ivanka and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke about dogs with guests at their table, even passing around pooch pics during the discussion, according to a pool reporter who was there.
The president’s daughter got the chance to speak at greater length during a speech in Osaka attended by her father and other world leaders at the G20. She was conspicuous at the event, with only two female world leaders in attendance: May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In Seoul, she took part in a panel discussion called ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment Around the World,’ and ‘addressed domestic and international issues on empowering women economically,’ according to the White House.
About 100 representatives of a Korean entrepreneurs group were there. All could rub elbows with U.S. Chamber of Commerce and ministry of foreign affairs officials.