Ivanka Trump met privately with the Secretary General of the United Nations today, Refinery29 has confirmed.
The first daughter and advisor to the president was spotted heading to the meeting at the Manhattan compound by a reporter for Voice of America Friday afternoon. A White House official confirmed the meeting to Refinery29, saying Secretary-General António Guterres reached out to Trump "to discuss areas of common interest after the launch of the World Bank's economic facility to advance women's entrepreneurship which Ms. Trump helped initiate." A United Nations spokesperson also confirmed the meeting, but declined to share additional details.
#Ivanka just arrived at the #UN for private lunch with @antonioguterres #SG pic.twitter.com/Y7Hu9wIgh1
— Margaret Besheer (@mbesheer) July 28, 2017
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, announced at the G20 summit in Germany earlier this month, is aimed at promoting female entrepreneurship and participation in the labor market worldwide through investment, mentorship, and other opportunities. It launched with commitments for $350 million in funding from various nations, including $50 million from the United States. While she has been credited with pushing for its creation, Ivanka Trump will not have a hand in fundraising or direct fund's operations, her advisors have said.
The meeting comes at the end of a tumultuous week for the Trump administration in Washington that included public feuding between top West Wing staff, widespread confusion and backlash over the president's tweet calling for a ban on trans people in the military, and the dramatic failure of the latest Obamacare repeal bill in the U.S. Senate. Ivanka Trump has not commented publicly on those matters.