Ivanka Trump Visits Center For Minority-Owned Businesses
Baltimore (WJZ/AP) -Ivanka Trump is learning more about economic policy as she takes on a more visible role in and around Washington.
On Wednesday, the first daughter visited the Raymond V. Haysbert Center for Entrepreneurship at the Greater Baltimore Urban League, where she participated in a roundtable discussion with minority business owners, mostly from the Baltimore area.
National Urban League President Marc Morial invited Trump, who has stressed her interest in working on policies to benefit women in business. He said he wanted to show her "a highly successful program that is supported by the federal government that makes a difference in the success of small entrepreneurs."
"I feel like Ivanka listened very intently and asked some very intelligent questions," Morial said, noting that she wanted to understand which programs worked and could be implemented on a larger scale.
During the roundtable, the business owners shared stories about the challenges they had overcome to achieve their business goals — two said they had previously been homeless — and discussed the public and private programs that helped them achieve, according to a White House official who requested anonymity to provide details of the event.
Morial said there are about a dozen National Urban League entrepreneurship centers operated by local affiliates around the country. Collectively they serve about 10,000 people a year and are supported by public and private funding.
Also participating in the roundtable were Linda McMahon, who heads the Small Business Administration, and Dina Powell, an assistant to the president and senior counselor for economic initiatives.
Morial, who has been critical of President Donald Trump, said he was happy to reach out to Ivanka Trump over a shared interest in economic development.
"We will oppose those things that we are duty bound to oppose, but we will keep our doors open to look for areas of commonality," he said. "I call it an intelligent approach."
One local business owner told WJZ she had to pinch herself. She was very taken back that the first daughter invested her time and resources in Baltimore.
"They came here to Baltimore, and that in itself, sent a very strong message," said Lisa Phillips, owner of Celeebrate Us in Eastpoint Mall.
Phillips was one of the few asked to be a part of the sit-down.
"Wow, they want to hear from us. We're relevant," Phillips said.
The successful party planer sheds light on what was talked about behind closed doors.
"The one thing Ivanka said is I'm here, I'm here to support you, my team is ready," she said.
Opportunities small businesses dream of.
"Ivanka was so genuine and so sincere they clearly came from a position of partnering, they want to partner with us."
A push that can help Phillips and other owners tackle the every day challenges.
"The life of an entrepreneur is day to day, we left there knowing we can fight another day, we can live to see another day."
Trump stepped away from leadership roles at the family business and her own lifestyle brand to move her family to Washington. For now, her husband, Jared Kushner, is the only one with an official White House position, but she has been an increasingly visible presence in recent weeks, appearing at meetings and press conferences.
Her most high-profile outing to date was a meeting on women's economic issues that came as part of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to the White House. Trudeau's office proposed the joint effort focused on empowering women in the workforce, and the meeting was put together by aides in both countries with input from Ivanka Trump. Female executives from both countries attended, as did the president and Trudeau.
Trump's visit to Baltimore came after she took her daughter to visit the Supreme Court on Wednesday. In a post on Instagram, she wrote: "Arabella and I visited the Supreme Court this morning and attended a hearing. I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach her about the judicial system in our country firsthand."
Sean sSpicer was asked what her role was and he said to "be helpful and provide input."
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