Ivanka Trump expressed an interest in a certain aspect of the country's foreign policy shortly after her father got elected president, The Mercury News reports, citing "Rage", a new book by veteran American investigative journalist Bob Woodward.
According to the newspaper, this particular episode occurred when retired Marine General James Mattis arrived at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club on 19 November, 2016, where he was invited by Mike Pence to talk with Trump about becoming Secretary of Defense.
Upon arrival, Mattis "entered an informal gathering around a table", with the people present being Trump, Pence and chief strategist Steve Bannon, as well as Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.
During the course of the discussion that ensued, Ivanka inquired about "how long it would take to review and rewrite the strategy" to defeat Daesh*, the newspaper notesb citing Woodward.
As the journalist reportedly noted, Mattis was “surprised the question had come from Ivanka,” even though Trump himself wasn't.
"Mattis could see Trump was proud Ivanka had weighed in,” Woodward wrote.
In response, Mattis told them that it would take months to review the strategy, and two years later, he “resigned as Secretary of Defense to protest Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria”, the newspaper adds.
Woodward's book, based on 17 interviews with US President Trump, was published by Simon & Schuster on 15 September.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL) is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia.
