Ivanka Trump is being snubbed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson over a significant event set to take place in India next week. Earlier this week it was claimed in a Vanity Fair article that President Donald Trump has been “pressuring” his daughter and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to leave Washington, D.C., and go back home. Negative headlines have allegedly left the president wanting them to return to New York . In the meantime, both continue trying to make their mark in the political world.
According to CNN , Rex Tillerson isn’t sending any high-level officials to support Ivanka Trump in India when she attends the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The theme this year is supporting women entrepreneurs, something the first daughter and special assistant to President Trump strongly advocates for. She was invited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June. The annual event typically has senior State Department officials on-hand. Secretary of State John Kerry and even President Barack Obama have shown up for the event in the past, but this year a clear signal is being sent by Rex Tillerson, and it essentially means he’s not supporting Ivanka Trump as the one being the “star attraction” at the summit, according to insiders’ claims reported by CNN .
Rex Tillerson’s decision not to send high-level officials from the State Department has nothing to do with slashing the department’s budget, according to sources who spoke with CNN . The report states that it has “more to do with the fact Ivanka Trump is leading the U.S. delegation this year.”
One senior State Department official explained to CNN that anyone higher than the deputy assistant secretary won’t be participating in the summit. Rex Tillerson and his top staff control travel arrangements and have authority even over the smallest of details.
“They (Tillerson and his staff) won’t send someone senior because they don’t want to bolster Ivanka. It’s now another rift between the White House and State at a time when Rex Tillerson doesn’t need any more problems with the President,” the official said.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s senior team is planning to skip Ivanka Trump’s India trip, CNN has learned https://t.co/ayOWmiArPZ pic.twitter.com/yh2izMaY02
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 24, 2017
The source added that Rex Tillerson feels slighted that he’s supposed to be the nation’s top diplomat yet Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have “stepped all over him” for a long time. In a way to snub the first daughter, he’s allegedly refusing to send any senior officials from the State Department.
It’s been widely reported that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s presence in the West Wing has created tension among top officials in the president’s inner circle. Rex Tillerson making a point not to send top officials from the State Department only underscores the issue.
Senior government officials will be sent to India to support Ivanka Trump at the summit, just no high-level staff from the State Department.
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