President Donald Trump was not only accompanied by his wife, Melania, on his visit to Saudi Arabia, but by his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Ivanka wasn’t along just to take in the sights, the self-described “female leader within the Trump administration” was busy advocating for women’s issues, to include entrepreneurialism – issues that have long been a priority to her.
The first daughter posted a photo on Instagram, along with the caption: “Honored by the warm welcome we received in Riyadh from King Salman and his family.”
While in Riyadh, Ivanka attended a roundtable of women led by Princess Reema bint Bandar, deputy president of the Women’s Sports Authority, and praised Saudi Arabia for recent strides in empowering women, according to ABC News.
“Saudi Arabia’s progress, especially in recent years, is very encouraging but there’s still a lot of work to be done and freedoms and opportunities to continue to fight for,” she said.
“The stories of Saudi women, such as yourselves, catalyzing change, inspire me to believe in the possibility of global women’s empowerment,” Ivanka said, adding that they “stand on the front lines of the fight for gender equality.”
Ivanka introduced World Bank President Jim Young Kim, who announced that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will donate a combined total of $100 million to a women’s empowerment fund that was inspired by Ivanka Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ABC News reported.
“We thought it was a fantastic idea, but we had no idea how quickly this would build,” Kim said.
“This is really a stunning achievement,” he continued. “I’ve never seen anything come together so quickly, and I really have to say that Ivanka’s leadership has been tremendous.”
And while Ivanka’s efforts toward gender equality created barely a ripple in the news cycle, the pledged contributions were all the rage, with media outlets comparing this to the Clinton Foundation, which President Trump was highly critical of.
It began with a tweet from Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Ballhaus, who gave the impression Ivanka controlled the fund, even though her own publication reported that “Ms.Trump doesn’t control it or raise money for it,” according to the Daily Caller.
Israeli president takes painful shots at former president Obama during Trump’s trip
Saudi Arabia and UAE pledge $100 million to Ivanka's Women Entrepreneurs Fund, per @carolelee: https://t.co/dZYzPJ5GOd
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) May 21, 2017
Trump pilloried Clinton for such donations to the Clinton Foundation on the campaign trail https://t.co/rEIX4I2EHt
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) May 21, 2017
Ivanka was also on hand as her father delivered his well-received unity speech to 50 Muslim leaders.
“We had an amazing and historic visit in Saudi Arabia. Was proud to watch my father’s speech at the Arab Islamic American Summit and am excited to continue our trip in Israel,” she wrote.
A busy women, the first daughter also spoke at the Tweeps social media conference in Riyadh. Her remarks are captured in the Fox News video below:
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