By Canadian Press

AP Interview: Ivanka Trump says Africa would inspire her dad

Apr 17, 2019 | 12:28 PM

ABIDJIAN, Cote d’Ivoire — On a trip to Africa to promote women’s economic empowerment, Ivanka Trump said the White House should be judged by its actions toward a continent that her father has privately disparaged.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the president’s daughter and senior adviser pointed to visits to the continent by herself, the first lady and others, saying: “Our commitment to Africa is clear.” She added that she hopes President Donald Trump will visit, saying: “I’ve been deeply, deeply inspired by my trip here. And I think he will be as well.”

Ivanka Trump spoke Wednesday, the last day of her four-day trip to Ethiopia and Ivory Coast, which has featured a mix of diplomacy and visits to local business ventures as she advances a White House program to give an economic boost to women in the developing world. Her trip was viewed with skepticism in some quarters, given the president’s efforts to cut foreign aid and his past derogatory comments about the continent.

The president was criticized last year after his private comments referring to “shithole countries” in Africa and other regions were leaked to journalists.

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A close adviser to the president, Ivanka Trump said her father asked her if she was interested in the job of World Bank chief but that she was happy with her current role in the administration. She worked on the selection process for the new head of the 189-nation World Bank, David Malpass, and declared he would do an “incredible job.”

Asked if her father had approached her about other top jobs, Ivanka Trump said she would “keep that between us.” But she did say she does not see a run for office in her future.

A day before the Justice Department is expected to unveil a redacted version of the special counsel’s report on Russian election interference and the Trump campaign, Ivanka Trump said she was not worried about what it would contain.

“I knew that there was no collusion. I knew that there was no obstruction and this was affirmed in the Mueller report and Attorney General Barr’s subsequent summary,” she said.

She also said she stood by a previous statement that the president had no involvement in granting security clearances to her or her husband, Jared Kushner, saying, “I have no evidence to the contrary.”

But she said she had not spoken to the president about the issue since reports surfaced that he had ordered officials to grant Kushner a clearance over the objections of national security officials.

On whether she would support turning over documents to Democrats investigating the issue, Ivanka Trump said she would leave that decision to the White House counsel.

Catherine Lucey, The Associated Press