Trump Would Have Appointed Daughter Ivanka to World Bank, If Not for Steven Mnuchin Intervening: Report
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP
Former President Donald Trump came very close to appointing his daughter Ivanka Trump as the new leader of the World Bank, but it was the intervening of then-Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin that kept that nepotistic nomination from happening.
According to a report from The Intercept, Trump was eager to select his daughter to replace outgoing World Bank President Jim Young Kim in January of 2019. Ivanka Trump has built a successful clothing line and licensing company but has nearly zero experience in global finance or approving loans to low and middle-income nations who rely on the World Bank.
Writing for The Intercept, Ryan Grim and Max Ufberg report:
As the White House moved to select its new leader, one name very dear to Trump’s heart kept floating around: his daughter Ivanka Trump. That never came to fruition, though, with Ivanka later telling reporters that though her father had raised the subject, she declined to pursue the position as she was “happy with the work” she was doing as his senior adviser.
Ivanka Trump did, however, aid Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney in the selection process. When the Treasury Department announced Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs David Malpass as the World Bank’s new president, Ivanka released a statement predicting Malpass would be “an extraordinary leader of the World Bank.” (Malpass was in fact a controversial pick, due in large part to his past criticisms of the World Bank.)
But two sources, not authorized to speak publicly, tell The Intercept the talk of Ivanka at the helm went far beyond the realm of Beltway chatter: Trump very much wanted Ivanka as World Bank president, and it was Mnuchin who actually blocked her ascent to the leadership role.
“It came incredibly close to happening,” said one well-placed source.
Ivanka Trump benefited significantly financially while serving in the White House as senior advisor to her father, most notably with trademark deals she got from China. In contrast, a self-imposed trade war led by her father was ongoing, which significantly hurt American farmers until Trump bailed them out with what critics called a socialist bailout.
