White House official says no interaction between Ivanka Trump, North Korean delegation
US President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka Trump has had no interaction with North Korean officials during her visit to South Korea, according to a White House official. The reported statement comes after she led the US delegation to the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and was seated near the North Korean delegation.
A senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, assured no interaction with the North Korean delegation."The US Presidential delegation's attendance at the closing ceremonies was the culmination of a successful trip where we celebrated the Olympic Games, US athletes and our strong alliance with South Korea,” The Courier reports the official as saying.
Trump congratulated South Korean President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook for "an incredible Olympic Games.” The first daughter reportedly briefed the South Korean leader on new North Korea sanctions amid reports of lacking permanent security clearance typically needed to access classified information.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that Ivanka was informed of her father’s sanctions that target North Korean shipping and trading companies and vessels before meeting Moon, CNN reports. Mnuchin reportedly said that the first daughter has been part of the team, had dinner with Moon and “had a private discussion in advance about this occurring.”
Mnuchin maintained that Ivanka has appropriate access to brief the South Korean president when asked if she had proper security clearance. There were reports claiming that Ivanka and fellow White House senior adviser Jared Kushner only have an interim security clearance.
Last year, Democratic lawmakers argued that the couple’s temporary clearances must be invalidated. They cited “brazen disregard for ethics and their apparent intention to skirt good governance rules.”
American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy has taken to Twitter to share his thoughts about the first daughter’s attendance at the closing ceremony. Meanwhile, the US leaders looked excited about his daughter’s trip to the Olympics, tweeting that “we cannot have a better, or smarter, person representing our country.”
So proud of all these people! Everybody here has worked so hard to make it to the Olympics and have the opportunity to walk in the closing ceremony! Well... Everyone except Ivanka. Honestly, tf is she doing here?? pic.twitter.com/sfJKi0VTDb
— Gus Kenworthy (@guskenworthy) February 25, 2018
During a briefing with Moon, the POTUS’ eldest daughter said that the purpose of her visit was to “reaffirm our commitment to our maximum pressure campaign to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is denuclearized.” Moon has expressed hope for a dialogue between his country and North Korea. The POTUS said during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the US implemented against North Korea “the heaviest sanctions ever imposed by our country before.”
