First daughter Ivanka Trump is grating on other West Wing staffers and has frustrated White House chief of staff John Kelly, who has complained that she is just “playing government,” according to a report Tuesday.
The retired Marine general believes President Trump’s daughter is trying to have it both ways, serving as a senior adviser to her father one moment and then acting like his daughter the next, depending on the situation, CNN reported.
Kelly has also dismissed her policy agenda and referred to her child tax credit as “a pet project,” the report said.
She’s married to Jared Kushner, who also plays a leading role in the White House and has come under scrutiny because he’s been unable to get a permanent security clearance.
The already ruffled feathers between the mother of three, who keeps an office in the White House, and staffers were further ruffled when the president chose her to lead the United States delegation to the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in South Korea over the weekend.
The decision to send her to PyeongChang did not go over well with other aides and Kelly, who believed the visit to South Korea was about more than just attending a sporting event in light of the tensions between the US and North Korea over the regime’s nuclear weapons program.
“This isn’t like going to Italy. The stakes are far higher and more complex,” CNN reported, citing a person close to the president.
Despite her lack of experience in government and diplomacy, she huddled with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and was the public face of the delegation.
Her visit also created its own share of controversy, with a US Olympic athlete questioning why she was there, and with her dodging a question about the president’s denials of sexual misconduct.
Skier Gus Kenworthy praised his teammates at the games but not Ivanka.
“Everybody here has worked so hard to make it to the Olympics and have the opportunity to walk in the closing ceremony! Well … Everyone except Ivanka. Honestly, tf is she doing here??,” he posted.
And in an interview she gave to NBC News while in South Korea, she was criticized for shifting roles from White House adviser to daughter when she labeled a question about her father’s reported infidelities “inappropriate.”
Asked if she believed the women who accused the president of sexual harassment, she bristled.
“I think it’s a pretty inappropriate question to ask a daughter if she believes the accusers of her father when he’s affirmatively stated there’s no truth to it,” she replied.