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Ivanka Trump's Growing Portfolio May Include the Environment

Patsy Widakuswara

   Steve Herman contributed to this report.

   WHITE HOUSE / CAPITOL HILL - When U.S. President Donald Trump delivered
   a speech on "America's environmental leadership" from the East Room of
   the White House on Monday, his daughter Ivanka Trump was seated at the
   front row, where she watched with a beaming smile on her face.
   But when Trump recounted how in 2017 he withdrew the United States from
   what he called "the unfair, ineffective and very, very expensive Paris
   Climate Accord", the smile disappeared from Ivanka Trump's face as she
   clapped politely but unenthusiastically.
   Even before her father's inauguration, Ivanka Trump had singled out
   environmental regulation as a primary policy focus. In December of 2016
   during her father's presidential transition, she brought former Vice
   President Al Gore, a leading environmental activist, to meet Trump to
   discuss climate change.
   Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner,have in the past donated or
   raised money for Democratic candidates and are often seen as
   championing issues traditionally considered liberal, including
   environmental protection and climate change mitigation. Trump's
   withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement is seen by some as a defeat
   for the first daughter and advisor to the president in her battle for
   clout in the White House.
   But Monday's speech may indicate that Ivanka Trump's influence on this
   issue is growing, and environmental protection may end up becoming
   another item on her already extensive portfolio ranging from job
   creation, fighting human-trafficking, and empowering women around the
   world.