Trump Keeps Daughter Ivanka By His Side In White House
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- President Donald Trump has kept his daughter Ivanka close by his side, at recent high-profile meetings like with Germany's Angela Merkel and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Now along with a West Wing office, she's getting a security clearance. Why? Her attorney says, it's to make sure any classified information she sees is protected.
Her role in the White House, said Jamie Gorelick in a statement, is to "advise her father and assist on initiatives that are important to her."
Initiatives including childcare - mentioned by Trump last September.
"I'm very grateful to her, her work, her efforts on this proposal we are going to be outlining," said President Trump on Wednesday.
In an interview last May with CBS This Morning's Norah O'Donnell, Trump herself described how she might interact with her father.
"Give him my opinion on perspective on anything that I'm interested in - in speaking about or he's interested and receptive and hearing about," said Ivanka.
Now, she says she's voluntarily placing her assets into a trust controlled by relatives and yesterday she said in a statement she will "follow all of the ethics rules placed on government employees."
The White House maintains she won't be paid and she won't officially be an employee.
Richard Painter, who was Chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, and part of a conflict of interest lawsuit against President Trump, says, "This is not optional. She is a government employee, no matter what they say. If she's doing government work, she has an office in the west wing and security clearance, she is beyond a doubt a government employee."