Ivanka Trump Gets an Office in the White House, But We Don't Know What the Hell She's Doing

Ivanka gets a West Wing office and security clearance, but doesn't have an official job.

March 21, 2017

Ivanka Trump attends at a luncheon she was hosting to mark International Women's Day
Getty

Ivanka Trump, despite not having an official position in her father's administration, has already attended many high-level meetings, and her influence has been widely discussed in the press. But the most powerful First Daughter in living memory took a giant leap forward on Monday with the announcement that she would get her own office in the West Wing and would have access to classified information—despite not having an actual government job.

Attorney Jamie Gorelick, Ivanka's "ethics advisor," per the Associated Press, said that she will "voluntarily comply with the [ethics] rules that would apply if she were a government employee, even though she is not." Gorelick continued, saying that she will serve as her father's "eyes and ears," and provide advice on a range of issues.

Trump issued a statement on her new role:

Many people, including politicians and former White House staffers, were angered and confused by this new arrangement. Bernadette Meehan, the former spokesperson for the National Security Council under President Obama, tweeted that Ivanka's new familial privileges lessened the value of everyone who had a role in the White House.