When President Donald Trump stepped away for one-on-one meetings at the G20 Summit, daughter, Ivanka Trump took his place. Bloomberg reported that Svetlana Lukash, a Russian official attending the summit, tweeted a photo that has now been deleted of the first daughter sitting in the president's chair, between Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Theresa May, on the last day of the G20 summit.
An unnamed official present at the session told Bloomberg that Ivanka took her father's seat at the table "at least twice" and didn't speak. A White House official told the Associated Press that Ivanka only took her father's seat "briefly" when he stepped out of the room. The official also noted that when other delegates left the room, their seats were also filled by staff members.
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According to a White House official, who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity, Ivanka was sitting in the back of the room, but moved forward when the president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, started talking about a new women’s entrepreneurship fund, Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi.) It's a project which the first daughter helped spearhead back in April during her first international trip to Germany, where she didn't have the easiest time.
We-Fi is a new financing and policy facility with the World Bank aimed at helping female-led businesses in developing countries. So far, the fund has so far raised $325 million with help from various governments with the money going to improve access to capital, provide technical assistance, training and mentoring, along with investing in programs and policies that help women in business.
Bloomberg reported that the president praised his daughter's work on We-Fi during the summit. "I’m very proud of my daughter Ivanka, always have been from day one. I have to tell you that, from day one," Trump said. "If she weren’t my daughter it’d be so much easier for her. It might be the only bad thing she has going if you want to know the truth.”
The AP later reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel didn't have a problem with Ivanka, who is an unpaid adviser to her father, sitting in his place, telling reporters that each delegation chooses who sits at the table when their leader isn't present. “Ivanka Trump belonged to the American delegation so that is in line with what other delegations do," Merkel said. "And it is known that she works at the White House and carries responsibility for certain initiatives.”
Back in April, Ivanka told CBS This Morning's Gayle King, "I wasn't elected by the American people to be president. My father is going to do a tremendous job. And I want to help him do that."