Ivanka Trump defended her father at a women’s panel in Berlin Tuesday after attendees hissed when she attempted to champion her father’s commitment to women’s issues.
The event opened with the first daughter explaining her role in the White House.
“You are first daughter — German audience not familiar — what is your role — to whom are you represented? Your father, the American people, or your business,” asked Miriam Meckel, editor of German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche.
“Well, certainly not the latter, and I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, as it is quite new to me,” replied Trump, a top adviser to her father. “It has been a little under 100 days, but it is just been a remarkable, an incredible journey.”
“So it’s very early for me. I’m listening, I’m learning, I’m defining the ways in which I think I’ll be able to have impact,” she added.
The audience interrupted Trump with hissing and boos during a discussion on paid leave when she began describing her father as an advocate for women.
“That is something I’m very proud of my father’s advocacy, long before he came into the presidency, he championed this in the primaries. He’s been a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive,” Trump said before the crowd began reacting negatively.
Meckel asked Trump to respond to those who question if the President is an “empowerer of women” given his past controversial statements.
“I’ve certainly heard the criticism from the media and that’s been perpetuated, but I know from personal experience, and I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades when he was in the private sector are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man,” she said.
“So I think in my personal experience — and you were asking me about my role as daughter — and as adviser, as a daughter, I can speak on a very personal level knowing that he encouraged me and enabled me to thrive,” Trump added.
Trump was participating in a panel discussion on women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship at the W-20, a summit of G-20 countries aimed at promoting women’s workforce participation and equality. She was one of eight participants, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Queen MÃ xima of the Netherlands, and International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde.
Merkel personally invited Trump on her first international trip since her father assumed office to discuss business, foreign policy and other issues of importance between the US and Germany.
