Ivanka Trump axes meeting with Penny Mordaunt about boosting women’s earning power
IVANKA Trump blew out Penny Mordaunt by cancelling their meeting to discuss how to boost women’s earning power.
The US president’s powerful daughter was due to hold talks with the Defence Secretary, who is also the Government’s minister for women.
But she pulled out the night before to head over to No10 and join her father for talks with PM Theresa May instead.
Instead, aides hurriedly arranged a “brush by” - a brief conversation - at Buckingham Palace on Monday night for the two women during the Queen’s state banquet.
A source close to the Defence Secretary confirmed: “Their teams are looking at organising another separate and more formal meeting in due course”.
The US leader has brought all four of his grown up children together with their spouses to London for his three day-long state visit.
The Trumps are a pretty demanding lot...it’s been chaos trying to accommodate them all
Coordinating all their schedules has been “a complete ball ache”, one senior figure told The Sun.
The Whitehall official added: “The Trumps are a pretty demanding lot. What they want to do changes all the time, and it’s been chaos trying to accommodate them all”.
Ivanka, 37, is dubbed the First Daughter in Washington DC, is one of the few to have full access to Mr Trump and is a big influence on his thinking.
Ahead of the planned meeting, Ms Mordaunt’s officials asked for help across Whitehall for proposals for a new Government-wide women’s empowerment strategy.
A draft five-page ‘women’s economic empowerment’ strategy was circulated three weeks ago.
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It includes a call for schools to publish the proportion of girls taking maths, science and STEM subjects in the hope more will sign up.
Another proposal suggests bringing forward ‘auto-enrolment’ on pensions for women – to ensure more have sufficient savings in later life.
A separate plan moots greater support for lone parents in low-paid jobs.
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