Ivanka Trump for U.N. ambassador? Nikki Haley’s resignation sparks Twitter speculatio

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Ivanka Trump for U.N. ambassador? Nikki Haley’s resignation sparks Twitter speculation, condemnation
By: MARTHA ROSS | mross@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: October 9, 2018 at 11:15 am | UPDATED: October 9, 2018 at 11:31 am
RE: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/...-condemnation/

As Nikki Haley announced her resignation as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, sitting beside Donald Trump in the Oval Office, she lavished so much praise on Ivanka Trump that speculation exploded on social media that the president would name his daughter to replace her in the top diplomatic post.

“I can’t say enough good things about Jared and Ivanka,” Haley said in her announcement that she was leaving her job at the end of the year, the Daily Mail reported.

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner serve as senior advisors to the president, and they were present in the Oval Office to hear Haley gush about them.

“Jared is such a hidden genius that no one understands,” Haley said, referencing his work on renegotiating NAFTA and on other trade deals.

“Ivanka has just been a great friend,” Haley added, saying that the first daughter and Trump’s son-in-law do more behind the scenes in the administration than people know. However, Haley did not offer specific examples. She would only say, “We are a better country because they’re in the administration.”

The possibility that either Ivanka Trump or Kushner would be angling for Haley’s job, or any other prestigious diplomatic post, isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Back in 2017, the New York Times reported that Ivanka Trump and Kushner had considered a scenario “in which Ms. Trump could replace Nikki R. Haley as ambassador to the United Nations if Ms. Haley replaced Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson.” At the time, such a personnel switch-up was seen as a way to ease the couple out of the White House, where they had lost influence, Politico reported.

Meanwhile, the couple have tried to seize diplomatic assignments and photo ops, whether in Israel, at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea or at the recent U.N. General Assembly.

Kushner has vague responsibility over bringing about Middle East Peace, while Ivanka Trump’s White House tenure has been marked by appearances is Israel, at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, at the United Nations or — controversially — sitting in for her father with world leaders at the G20 summit in 2017.

Of course, the couple’s ventures into international diplomacy have generally been met with disbelief and criticism, given that neither came to their White House jobs with any foreign service experience and both owe their wealth and fame to their respective fathers’ real estate fortunes.

Before Ivanka Trump joined the White House, she was a teen model, a luxury hotel developer, a reality co-star on her father’s TV show and the owner of a fashion brand that failed after boycotting consumers raised concerns that she was using her father’s presidency to enrich herself.

But it’s easy to imagine Ivanka Trump jumping at the chance to take over Haley’s job, while Kushner could return to the business world as an aspiring billionaire hedge-fund manager. If nothing else, a U.N. posting would mean they could return to their hometown of New York City and escape Washington D.C., where their presence in the White House is a source of ongoing controversy.

However, it’s not certain that some of their liberal-leaning Manhattan friends, including fashion royalty like Vogue Editor Anna Wintour, would appreciate them turning up at the Met Gala or other high-society events given their connection to Trump’s divisive presidency.

In any case, the idea of Ivanka Trump or Jared Kushner becoming the next U.N. ambassador sparked plenty of commentary on Twitter, reminding some users of a “House of Cards” episode or even of despots who find jobs around the United Nations for family members and political allies.

Michael McFaul, the Stanford University professor who served as ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama, was among those who employed a mixture of snark and anger to express alarm:

Ann Coulter tweeted approval of the idea of Ivanka Trump replacing Haley, but probably because the conservative pundit has frequently said that Ivanka Trump and her husband get in the way Trump being able to fully execute his agenda.

But others raised concerns about Ivanka Trump’s connections to Russia through the Trump Organization and potential harm such an appointment could cause to America’s image abroad.

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About the writer: Martha Ross Martha Ross is a features writer who covers everything and anything related to popular culture, society, health, women’s issues and families. A native of the East Bay and a graduate of Northwestern University and Mills College, she’s also a former hard-news and investigative reporter, covering crime and local politics.

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Personal note: Other reports I've read - say she was +1M$ in debt but this could only be another issue of which more details or news is needed - to support this report so I'm not posting it.

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