US Government-funded website accused of promoting Ivanka Trump’s new book
Voice of America publishes article describing President's daughter graduating 'from sassy to serious' with self-help guide for working women
A website funded by the US government has been accused of using taxpayers' money to promote Ivanka Trump’s new book.
Voice of America (VOA), the country’s official external broadcasting operation, posted an article to its website and Twitter feed with the caption: “In New Book, Ivanka Trump Gets Serious About Women at Work.”
The piece, written by the Associated Press, claims the first daughter's new book “offers earnest advice for women on advancing in the workplace, balancing family and professional life and seeking personal fulfilment.”
Despite proceeds from the novel, titled: "Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success", reportedly going to charity, many have been quick to highlight how the piece serves as a form of promotion of Ms Trump's commercial interests.
Ms Trump announced she would be cancelling her book tour and not making any media appearances “out of an abundance of caution and to avoid the appearance of using my official role to promote the book.”
However, many argue VOA's publishing of the article has generated Government-endorsed publicity.
This is not the first time Ms Trump has courted controversy over her business interests.
In February, Mr Trump’s former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway weighed in on the Nordstrom department store’s decision to stop selling Ivanka-Trump branded products.
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1/50 25 July 2019
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2/50 24 July 2019
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3/50 23 July 2019
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4/50 22 July 2019
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7/50 19 July 2019
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13/50 13 July 2019
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14/50 12 July 2019
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15/50 11 July 2019
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16/50 10 July 2019
USA's players take part in their champions parade through New York after winning the Women's World Cup at the weekend in France
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17/50 9 July 2019
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18/50 8 July 2019
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EPA
19/50 7 July 2019
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Getty
20/50 6 July 2019
Manneken Pis is dressed in the overall leader's yellow jersey, before the start of the Tour de France Stage 1
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AFP/Getty Images
22/50 4 July 2019
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AFP/Getty
24/50 2 July 2019
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26/50 30 June 2019
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27/50 29 June 2019
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28/50 28 June 2019
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29/50 27 June 2019
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AFP/Getty
30/50 26 June 2019
One of the world's most hazardous volcanoes, Mount Ulawun in Papua New Guinea, erupts spewing lava and ash high into the air
AFP/Getty
31/50 25 June 2019
A Russian Soyuz MS-11 space capsule carrying astronauts returning from the International Space Station lands in the steppes of south-east Kazakhstan
AP
32/50 24 June 2019
An aerial view shows a crater on a barley field near Ahlbach. Experts assume that an air bomb of the WWII probably exploded at a depth of several metres as a result of the triggering of the chemical detonator.
AFP/Getty
33/50 23 June 2019
People gather for a protest in Prague, Czech Republic. Protesters are on calling on Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to step down over fraud allegations and subsidies paid to his former companies
AP
34/50 22 June 2019
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AFP/Getty
35/50 21 June 2019
The silhouette of a girl performing yoga on the rocky crest of the Ancient Observatory Kokino on the occasion of fifth International Yoga Day, which is also the day of the summer solstice. The ancient astronomic observatory, located about 100 km northeast of Skopje, dates more than 4.000 years back in time. It is ranked by Nasa as the fourth ancient observatory in the world
AFP/Getty
36/50 20 June 2019
Indian residents get water from a community well in Chennai after reservoirs for the city ran dry. The drought is the worst in living memory for the bustling capital of Tamil Nadu state, India's sixth largest city, that is getting less than two thirds of the 830 million litres of water it normally uses each day
AFP/Getty
37/50 19 June 2019
Several new policemen, of Catalan regional Mossos d'Esquadra Police, throw their caps after their graduation ceremony in Mollet del Valles, Barcelona. A total of 804 new officers attended the ceremony
EPA
38/50 18 June 2019
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AFP/Getty
39/50 17 June 2019
A protester wears a yellow raincoat to pay tribute to a man who died after falling from a scaffolding at the Pacific Place complex while protesting against the extradition bill. People have been demanding Hong Kong's leaders to step down and withdraw the bill
Reuters
40/50 16 June 2019
A fan watches on at the ICC Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester
Action/Reuters
41/50 15 June 2019
Nearly 15,000 Dutch people gather in Valenciennes to support their women's football team playing against Cameroon at the city's Hainaut stadium
AFP/Getty
42/50 14 June 2019
A worker attaches a US flag to a mast before fixing it along the side of a road with other Israeli flags in the settlement of Qela Bruchim in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel's cabinet will meet in the Golan Heights to honour US President Donald Trump and vote on naming a settlement there after him, the prime minister's office announced
AFP/Getty
43/50 13 June 2019
French President Emmanuel Macron walks past the coffins of the three National Society of Sea Rescue (SNSM) ocean rescue volunteers, who died in a storm last week after their boat capsized, during a ceremony in their tribute at Fort-Saint Nicolas in Les Sables d'Olonne, France
AFP/Getty
44/50 12 June 2019
Police clash with protesters during a rally against a controversial extradition law proposal outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong. Violent clashes broke out as police tried to stop protesters storming the city's parliament, while tens of thousands of people blocked key arteries in a show of strength against government plans to allow extraditions to China
AFP/Getty
45/50 11 June 2019
Botswana became the latest country to decriminalise homosexuality, celebrated by activists as a day of "pride, compassion and love."
In the landmark ruling, the southern African nation’s High Court rejected sections of the penal code that criminalise same-sex relations and impose up to seven years in prison
AP
46/50 10 June 2019
A participant of the Koetztinger Whitsun Ride stands with his horse on a street near Bad Koetzingen, Germany. The procession of around 900 riders is one of the oldest Bavarian events
AP
47/50 9 June 2019
Police officers use pepper spray against protesters in Hong Kong. People took to the streets on Sunday to protest a proposed amendment to the extradition law that protesters fear would allow Hong Kong citizens to be unfairly extradited to China
AP
48/50 8 June 2019
A participant dances while holding a large rainbow flag during the Athens Gay Pride. Thousands marched in the 15th annual Athens Pride parade that was dedicated to the memory of a LGBTI activist who died earlier this year after a violent attack. Greek capital's Syntagma square, the venue of violent anti-austerity protests during the peak of the financial crisis, was full of rainbow flags as well as body painting kiosks for the more than 7,000 participants
AFP/Getty
49/50 7 June 2019
A man walks past a billboard showing members of the French women's World Cup football team on the side of a building on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris. The 2019 tournament starts this evening with the hosts playing South Korea
Reuters
50/50 6 June 2019
Canadian's Army officer stands during the international ceremony on Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer, Normandy, northwestern France, as part of D-Day commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the World War II Allied landings in Normandy
AFP/Getty
"Go buy Ivanka's stuff, is what I would say," she told interviewers on the Fox & Friends TV programme. "It's a wonderful line."
She claimed Ms Trump was being targeted by people who disliked her father, saying: “They’re using her to get to him.”
Mr Trump also attacked the decision by the retailer, rushing to the defence of his daughter on Twitter. White House press secretary Sean Spicer called the department store’s decision to stop selling some of her merchandise a “direct attack” on the President.
Ms Trump’s behind the scenes role at the White House was made official in March when it was announced she would serve as an unpaid special assistant to her father.
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