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Although Donald Trump Jr.'s maliciousness was shocking, it was Ivanka Trump's arrogance that was truly breathtaking. Moment by moment — from the G20 at Osaka, to a jaunt into the DMZ — she inserted herself into the middle of high-level conversations, assuming the role of equal among people with vastly greater qualifications. In a sea of serious black and grays, she stood out in colorful high fashion that seemed designed to steal the limelight.
Her father's commentary about her presence — "She's going to steal the show" — betrays much truth. This is a showbiz family, treating world affairs like a performance, and in the process making the United States look ridiculous
At one point, Lagarde, a most accomplished expert on global finance, seemed to flash a look of side-eyed impatience after Ivanka Trump chimed in in response to a comment by Theresa May, as the three stood in a group with Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau. In the video, May says, in response to a comment from Macron: "As soon as you talk about the economic aspect of it, though, a lot of people start listening who wouldn't otherwise listen." Ivanka Trump offers: "It's the same with the defense side. In terms of the whole business that's been, sort of, male-dominated." She smiled eagerly and nodded at her own comment.
Like Kushner, who has staked a leadership claim in Middle East negotiations, Ivanka Trump has no training in government, foreign policy or diplomacy. But like Kushner, who undermined Trump's first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, Ivanka Trump seems quite comfortable disrespecting the real diplomats.
That very little operates as it normally should almost goes without saying in Trumpworld, but the recent spectacles created by the President's family takes the abnormality to a higher level. Anyone who followed the clan as I did when it operated a string of businesses, understood that being a Trump was the main qualification that Donald Jr., Ivanka, and their brother Eric brought to their positions as top executives in the organization.
As the Donald Trump once told me, he values natural talent far more than experience, thus it is natural for him to insist that his offspring — and in Jared's case his son-in-law — will be the best choices for any job.
This is why Ivanka Trump is now treated as a major figure at the G20 and in relations with North Korean. And it is why Donald Jr. is a key political advocate for the administration. Who better to mimic Donald Trump's style, and give him the total loyalty he demands, than little Trumps?
A President operating without many real experts, making every decision by himself, is a problem for the world but it's just as Donald Trump has always liked it.