German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, listens as Ivanka Trump speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on March 17, 2017. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Ivanka Trump is planning a trip to Germany to attend a summit on the economic empowerment of women, a senior administration official said Sunday.
The first daughter was invited by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during Merkel’s recent White House visit, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss details of the trip by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The W20 summit, a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries, will be held in Berlin in late April. Trump’s plans are still being worked out, but she hopes to study successful apprenticeship programs during her visit.
Merkel and Ivanka Trump spent time together when Merkel visited the White House to meet with President Trump. At the request of German officials, the first daughter helped arrange a meeting between American and German business leaders to discuss vocational training.
The meeting marked the second time foreign leaders reached out to Ivanka Trump to coordinate an economic conversation. During Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit last month, she helped organize a meeting on economic development opportunities for women. That came together at the suggestion of Trudeau’s office.
Trump has been discussing job-training opportunities with chief executives for some time, starting with meetings she held before her father took office. She has also pledged to work on expanding economic opportunities for women.
The first daughter is viewed as a rising power in the young administration. She is getting an office in the West Wing, a security clearance and government-issued electronic devices even though she is not an official employee.
Trump is relinquishing control of her lifestyle brand, but she retains ownership. She has also pledged to voluntarily comply with all ethics rules that apply to employees. Still, ethics experts have raised concerns that by not becoming an official employee, she could skirt transparency and ethics provisions.