Ivanka Trump says developing countries must do more to empower women to get US aid

WASHINGTON - Developing countries that want to do business with the United States must do more to empower women and give them better access to the workforce, education and legal protections, White House adviser Ivanka Trump said on Friday.

Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, outlined initiatives to bolster the economic status of women at a panel during the IMF/World Bank annual meetings. She appeared to tie future US development aid and trading relations to improvements on these issues by developing countries.

"We in the United States think about our development assistance through the lens of achieving the goal for countries of self-reliance," she told an audience of hundreds.

"And you cannot achieve self-reliance and the ability of a country to become a trading partner if you are not fully realizing the potential of 50 percent of your population, and in fact have barriers against them to realizing that potential."

Trump in 2017 launched a women's entrepreneurship fund with the World Bank and 13 other countries, followed this year by a $50 million project that aims to reach 50 million women by 2025. It is urging countries to change laws that bar women from owning property, using transportation, accessing legal structures and gaining access to credit.

These efforts come amid criticism by civil rights groups that the Trump administration is disempowering women at home and abroad. The administration has backed curtailing abortion rights for women in the United States and limiting contraception requirements in health insurance, and it refuses to fund agencies globally that even mention abortion.

Trump, the highest ranking US administration official to speak publicly at the annual IMF/World Bank meetings, was joined on stage by Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon, whose bank has also launched a women's initiative called "10,000 Women" and Ana Botin, executive chairman of Banco Santander.

World Bank President David Malpass, appointed by Trump, and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, have pledged to focus more intensely on women's issues as they structure the future work of the two large multilateral institutions, citing the huge potential for economic gains for all countries.

Georgieva on Tuesday vowed to fight for greater gender equality at the IMF and around the world, telling a packed audience: "Buckle up. It's going to come." 

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Ivanka Trump to help US choose candidate for World Bank

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka will help the United States choose its candidate to lead the World Bank but she will not be the one, the White House said on Monday.

Jim Yong Kim abruptly announced last week that he would cut short his tenure as president of the Washington-based global development lender more than three years before his second term was to end.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney "have asked Ivanka Trump to help manage the US nomination process as she's worked closely with the World Bank's leadership for the past two years," said Jessica Ditto, the White House Deputy Director of Communications.

However, Ditto said reports that Ivanka Trump "is under consideration are false."

London's The Financial Times reported on Friday that both Ivanka Trump and Washington's former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley were among possible US candidates to replace Kim.

Other names being floated include Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass and Mark Green, head of the US Agency for International Development, the newspaper reported.

Through an unwritten post-war agreement with Europe, the World Bank has always been led by an American while a European has always been in charge of the IMF.

However, that is likely to face a serious challenge both because President Trump has shown little interest in, if not antagonism to the Bank, and has upended the traditional alliances that make the agreement possible.

Developing nations also have been increasing the pressure on the institutions to name a leader from an emerging market country.

Ivanka Trump in 2017 was the driving force behind a $1 billion, Saudi-supported World Bank fund to promote entrepreneurship by women.

The World Bank Board said on Thursday it would start accepting nominations for a new leader early next month and name a replacement for Kim by mid-April.

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Haley, Ivanka Trump among possible World Bank nominees: report

WASHINGTON, United States - Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and US President Donald Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka are among possible US candidates to replace outgoing World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, The Financial Times reported Friday.

Kim abruptly announced Monday he was cutting short his tenure as the bank's president more than three years before his second term was due to end.

In addition to Trump and Haley, who stepped down as US Ambassador to the United Nations last month, other names being floated include Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass and Mark Green, head of the US Agency for International Development, the newspaper reported.

Ivanka Trump in 2017 was the driving force behind a $1 billion, Saudi-supported World Bank fund to promote entrepreneurship by women.

The Treasury Department told AFP on Friday that it had no comment in potential candidates.

The department has received a "significant number of recommendations," a spokesperson said. 

"We are beginning the internal review process for a US nominee. We look forward to working with the governors to select a new leader."

Under an unwritten agreement, the United States, which is the bank's largest shareholder, has always chosen its leader since the institution was founded following World War II.

But the success of a US candidate no longer appears completely assured.

Kim was the first American nominee to face a contested election for the World Bank presidency in 2012 and the bank's board has said its selection process will be "open, merit-based and transparent," implying non-US candidates would not be ruled out.

The World Bank Board said Thursday it would start accepting nominations for a new leader early next month and name a replacement for Kim by mid-April.

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Trump defends Ivanka's private emails as lawmakers launch probe

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday that his daughter had used a private email account for government business, but rejected parallels between Ivanka Trump and Hillary Clinton as "fake news."

The president made brutal criticism of 2016 presidential election rival Clinton a central plank of his campaign -- insisting she had broken the law with a similar private email set-up.

But Ivanka Trump's emails did not contain classified information and she did not use an extensive home server, he argued, insisting that that his daughter and senior advisor had done nothing wrong.

"Early on and for a little period of time, Ivanka did some emails. They weren't classified like Hillary Clinton. They weren't deleted like Hillary Clinton," Trump told reporters.

"She wasn't doing anything to hide her emails... They are all in presidential records... There were no servers in the basement like Hillary Clinton had. You're talking about a whole different -- all fake news."

Trump's vigorous defense of his daughter did little however to appease lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who announced plans to investigate whether she had violated federal records rules.

Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee who is likely to become chairman when his party takes control of the House in January, hinted he may revive a probe from last year into Trump administration officials' private email use.

"The White House never gave us the information we requested," Cummings, who authored an update to the Presidential and Federal Records Act signed into law in 2014, said in a statement.

"We need those documents to ensure that Ivanka Trump, (her husband) Jared Kushner and other officials are complying with federal records laws and there is a complete record of the activities of this administration."

During their bitter election battle, Donald Trump had called for Clinton to be brought up on charges over her use of a private email server while secretary of state. A favorite chant of his supporters was "Lock her up" -- one he did not silence.

Cummings insisted that "my goal is to prevent this from happening again -- not to turn this into a spectacle the way Republicans went after Hillary Clinton."

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, a Republican, said he would also examine whether the law had been broken.

"We take this very seriously," Johnson, who had his committee investigate Clinton's email use, told CNN. "Federal records is under my committee's jurisdiction, and we will dig into exactly what has happened here."

The scandal came to light when public affairs watchdog American Oversight released emails obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests that showed Trump had used her personal email account hundreds of times to communicate with federal agencies.

A spokesman for Ivanka Trump's attorney confirmed that she used a private email account before she was informed of the rules, according to the Washington Post, and said that all her government-related emails had been turned over months ago.

But American Oversight called her personal email use a "blatant derogation of the law."

"It now appears that Ms Trump continued to violate the rules long after the White House claimed it had educated employees about their obligations," executive director Austin Evers wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

"Accordingly, there is reason to doubt the efficacy of the White House's efforts. Congress should investigate the steps the White House has taken to ensure employees beyond Ms Trump are following the law."

oh/ft

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Ivanka Trump used personal email for govt business: report

WASHINGTON - The US president's daughter and senior advisor Ivanka Trump used a personal email account for government business in violation of federal records rules, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The Post, citing anonymous sources, said the discovery was made by White House officials reviewing emails in response to a public records lawsuit.

When asked about it, Trump said she was unfamiliar with details of the rules, the Post said.

A spokesman for Trump's attorney confirmed that she did use a private email account before she was informed of the rules, and said that all her government-related emails had been turned over months ago, the newspaper reported.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly pilloried Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 presidential election, for her use of a private email server for government business while she was secretary of state.

Then FBI director James Comey -- fired by the president last year -- announced that the bureau would reopen an investigation into Clinton's use of the private email server just 11 days before the 2016 presidential vote, a move that some say may have helped cost her the election.

Trump supporters still chant "Lock her up!" at rallies, mimicking one of Trump's battle cries during the election campaign, indicating they believe Clinton should be jailed.

wd/dw

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Ivanka Trump: Family separations a 'low point,' media not the enemy

WASHINGTON -- Ivanka Trump distanced herself Thursday from some of her father's most controversial policies and strident rhetoric, saying she was "vehemently against" family separations and that journalists are not the enemy.

Speaking publicly for the first time since she shuttered her eponymous fashion brand last week, the first daughter and senior adviser to President Donald Trump took a decidedly different approach than her combative father to stress that the immigration crisis has caused her anxiety.

"That was a low point for me as well," Trump, 36, told a conference organized by news website Axios, referring to the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy that led to the stripping of thousands of children from their migrant parents.

"I am very vehemently against family separation and the separation of parents and children, so I would agree with that sentiment."

Ivanka's position aligns with the opinion of everyday Americans, who polls show are largely opposed to the separations.

The immigration crisis, which swelled further when audio emerged of detained toddlers crying for their mothers, caused a firestorm and in June the president reversed course.

But as of last week's deadline, 711 of the roughly 2,500 separated children were still not reunited with their parents, and officials were unable to clarify when they would see their family.

Trump also distanced herself from her father's relentless condemnation of the media -- attacks that have raised the levels of anti-press antagonism at his recent rallies.

While saying she had "sensitivity" about why some people who feel targeted have gripes with reporters, she said the name which the president has bestowed on them is misplaced.

"No, I do not feel that the media is the enemy of the people," Ivanka said.

Her words came in stark contrast to those of the president hours later, when he dubbed journalists "horrible, horrendous people" while speaking at a Pennsylvania rally.

'INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT ISSUES'

Many observers at the start of Trump's presidency expressed confidence that Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, formed a compassionate camp in the White House and would act as a check on her father's cruder instincts.

That has largely failed to materialize. While Trump was said to have discouraged her father privately from the border policy, she said nothing publicly until after his reversal, when she thanked him for "taking critical action ending family separation."

Last year, she urged him to keep the United States in the Paris climate accord, but her prodding fell on deaf ears and the president pulled out. 

In November, as Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore faced accusations of misconduct with teen girls when he was in his 30s, Ivanka Trump declared "there's a special place in hell for people who prey on children."

But two weeks later, the president endorsed Moore, who ultimately lost to a Democrat.

As first daughter, Ivanka has traveled overseas representing the United States, attended meetings with visiting heads of state and traveled domestically, fueling speculation she may harbor future political ambitions of her own.

"I'm really passionate about the work that I'm doing here and I'm really committed to it," she said Thursday.

So much so that last week she announced she was closing her fashion brand, following criticism about potential conflicts of interest and flagging sales.

In discussing the immigration crisis, Trump described herself as "the daughter of an immigrant" -- her mother was born and raised in the former Czechoslovakia, and came to the US legally.

"So we have to be very careful about incentivizing behavior that puts children at risk of being trafficked," said Trump, a mother of three.

"These are incredibly difficult issues, and like the rest of the country I experience them in a very emotional way."

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Ivanka Trump shutting namesake apparel brand

US President Donald Trump's oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, is closing her fashion line to focus her energies on advising her father's White House, she said through a representative on Tuesday.

Trump, whose fortune comes from real estate development, came into office carrying a broad family business portfolio that trades heavily on the family name.

The president has made regular visits to Trump-branded properties during his time in office, prompting some critics to complain that he is using the profile of his office to promote his private businesses.

"After seventeen months, without a time frame for her return, Ivanka made the difficult decision that to be fair to the brand's partners and its employees, the business should be wound down," a representative for Ivanka Trump's fashion line said in a statement on Tuesday.

The company said licensing contracts would not be renewed and those in place will be allowed to run their course.

Trump's combative style on the campaign trail and as president have drawn the family's brands into political fights, with some supporters hosting events at the luxury Trump International Hotel blocks from the White House while opponents have called for boycotts of the family's businesses.

In early 2017 retailers including Nordstrom Inc, Sears Holdings Corp and Kmart dropped or sharply scaled back their assortment of Trump-branded products, though they typically attributed those decisions to poor sales rather than political messages.

Ivanka Trump's brand said in a statement that retailers including Bloomingdale's, owned by Macy's Inc, Dillard's and Amazon.com continued to carry her wares. (Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston and Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, James Dalgleish and Richard Chang)

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Ivanka Trump, husband benefitting from business empire: documents

WASHINGTON - Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner have held onto real estate and business investments valued in the hundreds of millions while working government jobs, according to ethics filings released late Friday by the White House.

The disclosures came in a mass document release showing the wealth and financial assets of scores of senior White House staff members at the time they began government work.

Ivanka Trump's stake in the Trump International Hotel, located blocks from the White House, is one source of income that could represent a conflict of interest.

Critics have noted that interest groups or foreign governments could stay at the luxury hotel to get in the administration's good graces.

The White House documents show that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, who are both officially close advisers to the president, are still getting income from holdings valued at between $240 million and $740 million.

Ivanka Trump -- who just days ago announced she would officially enter a federal role as an unpaid adviser to the US president -- will hang on to her stake in the Trump International Hotel.

According to her husband's disclosure the hotel stake is worth between $5 million and $25 million. Between January 2016 and March 2017 she made between $1 million and $5 million in rent or royalties from the hotel, the documents showed.

Kushner was recently tapped by his Republican father-in-law to lead a new White House office that aims to use business ideas to help streamline the government, according to the Washington Post.

The 36-year-old is a senior adviser to Trump with far-reaching influence over domestic and foreign policy.

Kushner left high-level positions at more than 200 entities related to his family's real estate business, according to the documents, but will continue to reap benefits from many holdings related to the business empire he ran with his father.

BANNON, COHN ASSETS

The White House disclosures included information on the assets of Gary Cohn -- the former president of Goldman Sachs who heads the White House National Economic Council -- and Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's chief strategist.

Cohn reported assets of between $253 and $611 million, and income in 2016 of up to $77 million.

Bannon's most important asset is his private consulting firm, valued at between $5 million and $25 million. He also had rental real estate valued at up to $10.5 million, and up to $2.25 million in the bank.

Bannon reported $191,000 in consulting fees earned from the conservative outlet Breitbart News Network, which he formerly headed, as well as more than $125,000 for work at the data firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked for the Trump campaign, and more than $61,000 in salary for a conservative nonprofit group.

The Trump administration is considered one of the wealthiest in US history -- Bloomberg estimates his cabinet and senior staff are worth some $12 billion.

NO TRUMP DIVESTMENT

Since being elected president, Donald Trump's vast business empire has been scrutinized by ethics experts who say it poses major conflicts of interest.

Before taking office in January Trump said he would formally hand "complete and total" control of his business empire to his adult sons, Don Jr and Eric, in a bid to avoid conflicts of interest - but he would not divest from his business holdings.

The Trump Organization, whose network of hotels, golf clubs and luxury residential towers stretches across 20 countries, is not listed on the stock market, and thus releases no public statistics.

Trump has thus far refused to release his tax returns, meaning little is known about the extent of its interests.

Don Jr, 38, and Eric, 32, are Trump's eldest sons from his first marriage. They are currently executive vice presidents in the Trump Organization.

Trump's personal lawyer Sheri Dillon promised that the new president would "build in protections" to show that his actions "are for their benefit and not to support his financial interests."

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Ivanka Trump is exception to dad's 'Buy American' rule

BEIJING - In his January inauguration speech, US President Donald Trump made a seemingly straightforward pledge: "We will follow two simple rules: buy American and hire American."

His daughter is the exception: even as he spoke, at least eight shipments of Ivanka Trump-branded shoes, bags and clothes -- more than 53.5 tonnes -- were steaming towards American ports from China, according to US Customs bills of lading examined by AFP.

Trump uses his presidential pulpit to censure manufacturers -- both domestic and foreign -- for using overseas labour to make goods for American consumers, but the Ivanka-branded orders have kept rolling in.

More than two tonnes of ladies' polyester woven blouses, 1,600 cowhide leather wallets and 23 tonnes of made-in-China footwear were among at least 82 such shipments that passed US Customs -- almost one per business day -- from Trump's November 8 election win through February 26, records showed.

The goods were made in China by three US companies holding licences to manufacture products for Ivanka Trump's fashion line: garment maker G-III, Mondani Handbags and Marc Fisher Footwear.

Marc Fisher told AFP it had no comment, while the others did not respond to requests.

The first daughter's business has come under scrutiny since major US department store chain Nordstrom announced in February it would stop carrying her products, citing poor sales.

That provoked a scathing attack from Trump and his advisers and even prompted senior counselor Kellyanne Conway to urge Americans to go out and buy his daughter's products.

The Washington Post reported this week that many had done just that, with February proving a banner month for the brand, in terms of sales.

- 'Very hypocritical' -

More than 1,200 shipments of Trump-branded products have flowed into the US from China and Hong Kong over the past decade, according to an examination of US import data last year by anti-Trump political action committee Our Principles PAC.

During his campaign, Trump defended the licensing of the Trump name for goods made in China -- from shoes to ties to dress shirts -- as smart business.

But at the same time he frequently accused China of stealing US jobs through unfair trade practices and currency manipulation, while also slamming US firms such as Ford and Nabisco for off-shoring.

Since taking office, he has kept up the pressure, vowing to punish domestic and foreign companies that manufacture abroad with massive tariffs of as much as 45 percent.

His frequent fusillades have led some companies to second-guess decisions to build production facilities overseas.

In February, Japanese firm Nisshinbo Holdings, a leading global maker of automobile brake parts, dropped plans to open a factory in Mexico, saying it was due to Trump's trade policies.

But the president has been notably silent on his daughter's products, which are sold in American retailers like Macy's, Lord & Taylor and TJ Maxx.

G-III alone sold $29.4 million of the goods in 2015, and sales in the first nine months of 2016 were up $13.3 million over the same period the previous year, according to the company's public filings.

But rather than chide his daughter’s partners for making their products abroad, Trump instead lashed out at Nordstrom last month after it announced it would stop carrying Ivanka's fashion range.

"My daughter has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom," he tweeted.

Christopher Balding, an expert on Sino-US trade relations at Peking University, called it "very hypocritical to make (bringing jobs back to the US) a policy plank and manufacture her products in China".

But "in their defense... she couldn't get those products manufactured in the US at a reasonable price point."

However, a long-time garment industry executive who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP simple products like polyester dresses could "definitely" be made in the US at a similar price once savings from transportation and tariffs are factored in.

"The less labour involved in making the garment, the more they can compete with Asian manufacturers."

- 'Tough policies' -

Late last month, Ivanka sat in on a White House meeting where her father discussed "tough policies" to bring "our jobs back".

"Everything is going to be based on bringing our jobs back," the president said, as he addressed a group of manufacturing moguls from a dozen American firms.

Following the meeting, a spokesperson for the Ivanka Trump brand told AFP the company has "consistently expressed that we share industry leaders' interest in bringing more manufacturing opportunities to the US and are looking forward to being a part of the conversation".

Just not yet: two days later, more than 5,000 Ivanka Trump polyester blouses arrived in Newark, New Jersey.

And at least one shoe factory in southern China has received an order for 10,000 shoes for next season, according to Chinese newspaper the Global Times.

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Trump says will back away from business to focus on White House

NEW YORK - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to step back from running his global business empire to avoid conflicts of interest, as concern over his dual role mounts ahead of the Republican's inauguration on Jan. 20.

Trump, a real estate magnate who owns hotels and golf resorts from Panama to Scotland, said he will spell out at a Dec. 15 news conference how he will separate himself "in total" from his worldwide business holdings, which include a winery, modeling agency, and a range of other businesses.

After Trump won the Nov. 8 election, his company, the Trump Organization, had said it was looking at new business structures with the goal of transferring control to Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump - three of his adult children who are involved with the company.

Trump gave few details in a series of early morning tweets on Wednesday, but said "legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations" and said his children will attend the news conference. He did not say what the planned change might mean for ownership of his businesses.

His children are also on the executive committee of his White House transition team. His daughter Ivanka joined a telephone call his father had with Argentine President Mauricio Macri earlier this month and attended a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, raising concerns about possible conflicts of interests.

A brand name around the globe, Trump had previously argued that he had no need to separate himself from the Trump Organization, which includes a hotel down the street from the White House, a Manhattan tower where he lives and is running his transition to office, and a New Jersey golf course where he interviewed cabinet candidates earlier this month.

Trump said on Wednesday he is not required by law to alter his relationship with his business, but added: "I feel it is visually important, as president, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses."

As the Republican heads toward taking over the White House from President Barack Obama, scrutiny of potential conflicts has grown. Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill called for hearings on the issue.

Rules on conflict of interest for executive branch employees do not apply to the president, but Trump will be bound by bribery laws, disclosure requirements and a section of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits elected officials from taking gifts from foreign governments.

The nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics said in a statement it applauded Trump's aims, and recommended Trump completely divest his holdings rather that transfer control.

"As we discussed with your counsel, divestiture is the way to resolve these conflicts," the office tweeted.

WALL STREET PICKS

Trump, a former reality TV star, has spend much of the last few weeks setting up his new cabinet and interviewing candidates for top jobs in his administration.

On Wednesday, Trump said he will nominate his chief campaign fundraiser Steven Mnuchin to lead the U.S. Treasury. Mnuchin said the administration would make tax reform and trade pact overhauls top priorities as it seeks a sustained pace of 3 percent to 4 percent economic growth.

Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker, also signaled a desire to remove U.S. mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government ownership, a move that could have wide-ranging ramifications for how Americans pay for their homes, and said banking regulations should be eased to spur lending.

Trump named Wilbur Ross, a billionaire known for his investments in distressed industries, as his nominee for commerce secretary. Both nominees will require confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Trump is also considering Goldman Sachs President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn, a former commodities trader, to head his White House budget office or to fill another position, a Trump transition official said.

The economic picks were praised by the Business Roundtable, a group that represents America's largest corporations.

But Democratic senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren called Mnuchin "just another Wall Street insider."

"That is not the type of change that Donald Trump promised to bring to Washington - that is hypocrisy at its worst," Sanders and Warren said in a joint statement.

Trump had pledged during his campaign to "drain the swamp" in Washington. A spokesman said giving top economic jobs to Wall Street figures was not inconsistent with that vow.

"You want some people that are insiders and understand the system and some outsiders that are creative thinkers, out-of-the-box thinkers and disruptors," said Anthony Scaramucci, an asset manager who is on Trump's transition committee.

Trump is also working to fill out his foreign policy team, but no decision appeared imminent on who the next secretary of state will be.

He met on Wednesday with Linda McMahon, co-founder of wrestling empire WWE. McMahon told reporters that she discussed job creation and the Small Business Administration with Trump, and said "Stay tuned!" about whether she would join the administration.

On Thursday, Trump will travel to Indiana to formally announce a deal he reached with United Technologies Corp to keep close to 1,000 jobs at its Carrier Corp air conditioner plant in Indianapolis rather than shifting them to Mexico.

Trump and his running-mate Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, had railed against Carrier on the campaign trail, using the company's outsourcing move as an example of how trade agreements hurt American workers.

(Additional reporting by David Lawder and Eric Walsh in Washington and Melissa Fares in New York; Writing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Bill Trott and Alistair Bell)

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Ivanka Trump separates personal, business social media

NEW YORK - Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, accused of a potential conflict of interest as she helms her own brand while making frequent appearances with her president-elect father, is separating her business and personal social media accounts.

In a "letter" that appeared Tuesday on her Twitter and Instagram feeds, the businesswoman's team said that her existing @IvankaTrump accounts -- which have 2.4 million and 1.9 million followers, respectively -- will now be for "personal" use.

All information related to her clothing and jewelry brands, meanwhile, will appear on @IvankaTrumpHQ accounts.

"As a private citizen, with full awareness of her heightened visibility, she will broaden her efforts to take a stance on issues of critical importance to American women and families," the statement said.

"Our company's mission is not political -- it never was and it never will be -- however, Ivanka, personally, has an increased opportunity to advocate for women and be a positive force for change," it added.

Ivanka Trump, The Trump Organization's vice president of development and acquisitions, and her two brothers, vice presidents at the conglomerate, have been called upon to manage their father's fortune and affairs during his tenure at the White House.

She stirred controversy when images released by the Japanese government showed the 35-year-old and her husband, real-estate developer and publisher Jared Kushner, standing and chatting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he met with the president-elect at Trump Tower in Manhattan last week.

She also participated in a telephone conversation when Argentina's President Mauricio Macri called her father, although the head of Argentine diplomacy has assured that she and the president only exchanged pleasantries.

Donald Trump has also indicated that his son-in-law, Kushner, who is largely absent from social media, could help broker a deal to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Kushner is from an Orthodox Jewish family. The businessman and investor was a close adviser to Trump during the election campaign.

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