While her husband and Steve Bannon fought each other for control of President Donald Trump’s inner circle, it was Ivanka who was reportedly calling the shots on her father’s foreign policy.
After seeing pictures of Syrian children, dead from Bashar Al-Assad’s Sarin gas attacks, Ivanka Trump put the screws to her father to do something dramatic, according to diplomatic cables sent between the US and UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
The UK’s Sunday Times reported that Ivanka saw the photos on television and was “genuinely shaken.” She tweeted out a response, and as her father, the President was working to control his infighting Oval Office, quietly influencing him to take immediate action.
The cables noted that she had “significant influence in the Oval Office” and foreign policy experts seem to believe that means the attack, which involved 60 Tomahawk missiles, leveling a Syrian airfield believed to have been the jumping off point for the chemical weapons attack, was much stronger because she pushed for drastic action.
She later praised her dad on Twitter. “The times we are living in call for difficult decisions. Proud of my father for refusing to accept these horrendous crimes against humanity.”
The elder, President Trump is reaping praise for his response to Assad’s attack, and a number of commenters labeled last week the President’s “best week yet,” with wins on the foreign and domestic stages. Although Ivanka probably can’t take credit for Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation, it seems her new West Wing office is already paying dividends for her father.
It also likely means that fears about Ivanka’s close relationship with her dad would have a dramatic influence on policy are well-founded, though given how well Trump has navigated legislative waters recently, it can’t be much but a welcome change.
Her husband and Steve Bannon better watch their backs.
