Ivanka Trump Champions Climate Change

Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka told the press last month that she would not be joining her father’s administration. “No,” she said. “I’m going to be a daughter.” 

But it’s looking like the phrase “First Daughter” is a better description, and Ivanka seems poised to assume the sort of role generally attributed to the president’s wife. 

Trump’s wife Melania, on the other hand, seems completely disinterested in her husband’s administration. She has made no statements or public appearances since the election and doesn’t even want to live in DC.

Politico calls Ivanka “Trump’s avatar among the moneyed left-wing elite.” The 35-year-old plans to use her spotlight to speak out on traditionally liberal positions like climate change, pay equity, and parental leave. 

Ivanka is known for her self restraint and unflappable composure, a stark contrast to her father’s mercurial temperament. “She’s the most on-message human being I’ve ever seen,” said a former colleague. “Even when she’s angry, she’s a model of composure.”

Along with brothers Eric and Donald Jr., Ivanka is slated to take over the family business as her father moves into the White House. Some are concerned that this new position will get in the way of her planned advocacy. 

“It becomes a conflict of interest if she is in a policymaking or advising role,” warns Katherine Jellison, a specialist in first lady studies at Ohio University. “If she were able to play White House hostess only…then she would be on much safer ground. At any point if people see her sliding onto the policymaking and advising side, there would be charges of conflict of interest.”

For now, Ivanka plans to put forward a positive case on certain issues (like climate change) and remain silent on the rest. She views herself as a liberal voice in her father’s ear and a representative for working mothers.

She’s talking about issues that “she’s always talked about,” said one of Ivanka’s close friends. “She is playing a critical role in being able to have issues that moderate and liberal women care about – and creating a bridge to the other side.”  

Ivanka and her father are immensely close, and many Democrats are begging her to speak with the president-elect about climate change.

Meanwhile, Trump already seems to have softened his stance on the climate change “myth.” In a recent interview, he told the NY Times that he believes there to be “some connectivity” between Earth’s climate and human activity.  

There’s also the fact that Trump – once a registered Democrat – signed a letter to Obama in 2009 which read: “If we fail to act now, it is scientifically irrefutable that there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet.”

Editor’s note: This is how a Republican solves Global Climate Change – by making it a business and generating a profit: