President Donald Trump picked a fight with Chelsea Clinton on Twitter on Monday, July 10, while defending his controversial decision to allow daughter Ivanka Trump to briefly take his seat at a G20 summit over the weekend.
“If Chelsea Clinton were asked to hold the seat for her mother [Hillary Clinton], as her mother gave our country away, the Fake News would say CHELSEA FOR PRES!” Trump, 71, tweeted.
Less than 40 minutes later, the former first daughter, 37, fired back, “Good morning Mr. President. It would never have occurred to my mother or my father [Bill Clinton] to ask me. Were you giving our country away? Hoping not.”
If Chelsea Clinton were asked to hold the seat for her mother,as her mother gave our country away, the Fake News would say CHELSEA FOR PRES!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2017
Good morning Mr. President. It would never have occurred to my mother or my father to ask me. Were you giving our country away? Hoping not. https://t.co/4ODjWZUp0c
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) July 10, 2017
Ivanka, 35, raised eyebrows on Saturday, July 8, when she was photographed temporarily sitting in her father’s seat at a table with officials including British Prime Minister Theresa May, Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.
In a second tweet on Monday morning, the president further defended his decision. “When I left Conference Room for short meetings with Japan and other countries, I asked Ivanka to hold seat. Very standard. Angela M agrees!” he wrote.
Ivanka, who serves as an unpaid White House adviser, has yet to publicly address the controversy. In a statement to CNN on Saturday, a senior Trump administration official dismissed claims that the businesswoman’s move was improper.
“Ivanka was sitting in the back and then briefly joined the main table when the president had to step out, and the president of the World Bank started talking as the topic involved areas such as African development — areas that will benefit from the facility just announced by the World Bank,” the official said. “When other leaders stepped out, their seats were also briefly filled by others.”
