Ivanka Trump getting West Wing office in White House 'like a coup', says former Labor secretary Robert Reich

Ms Trump has been given government communication devices and classified security clearance

Ms Trump will 'voluntarily' follow the ethics code as she is not a White House employee (Getty)

The former Labour Secretary has compared the President’s daughter moving into an office in the White House as a “coup” before the Trump family prepares to "loot the country".

Robert Reich, who served under the Bill Clinton administration and has been a strong critic of Mr Trump’s alleged conflicts of interest, was quick to react to the news that Ms Trump would be setting up in the West Wing.

“Ivanka into the White House? It’s like a coup, and the dictator’s family is moving into the palace as it prepares to the loot the country,” he wrote on twitter.

In a longer post on Facebook, he said the "utter disdain of the Trumps for ethics is jaw-dropping".

"Doesn’t the Trump administration have enough ethics problems? Aren’t there already enough conflicts of interest to sink a ship?" he wrote.

Ms Trump’s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, told Politico that the 35-year-old will be given government communication devices and will be provided classified security clearance.

She also said they were still working out potential conflicts of interest with Ms Trump's jewelery brand, from which she has taken a step back while her father is President.

Her office will be next door to Dina Powell, a member of the National Security Council.

Ms Trump, wife of the President’s senior adviser Jared Kushner, said she will voluntarily follow the ethics code, although she will not be paid or sworn into office. In contrast, her husband is a paid government official and has to abide by government ethics laws.

Ms Trump will reportedly act as the “eyes and ears” of the President and continue to attend meetings with foreign leaders, as she has done with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Canadian leader Justin Trudeau.

Norm Eisen, a former ethics chief in the Barack Obama administration, said: “They’re not saying she’s going to voluntarily subject herself to ethics rules to be nice.

“There’s recognition that they're in very uncertain territory here.”

Bernadette Meehan, a former Foreign Service Officer and former spokesperson for the Obama administration’s National Security Council, wrote on twitter: “I had a security clearance & West Wing office. @IvankaTrump diminishes the value of expertise & hard work it took me & others to get there.”

Shaun King, a senior justice writer and activist, simply called the news “disturbing”