Under the trust, which was executed in the first week of March, Ms. Trump may address potential conflicts in one of two ways: recuse herself from related White House business or
veto a potential business deal for her company, said Jamie Gorelick, a longtime ethics lawyer in Washington who is an independent adviser to the Ivanka M. Trump Business Trust.
Despite Trust, Ivanka Trump Still Wields Power Over Her Brand -
By RACHEL ABRAMSMARCH 20, 2017
What role Ivanka Trump plays in her father’s White House is among the pressing questions
at the intersection of politics and business under the Trump administration.
Unlike her husband, Jared Kushner, who is a top adviser to Mr. Trump, Ms. Trump does not hold a formal job at the White House and therefore is not likely to be considered a federal employee under ethics rules, which prohibit government workers from participating in matters
that can enrich their personal business interests, according to government ethics specialists.
Instead, President Trump has moved his business interests into a trust overseen by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.,
and Allen H. Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of his real estate company, the Trump Organization.
But even if Ms. Trump is trying to tread carefully, her trust raises questions about how effectively a voluntary arrangement
can minimize conflicts, said Norman L. Eisen, the chief White House ethics adviser under President Barack Obama.
Ms. Trump could have put assets into a blind trust, which keeps beneficiaries in the dark about their assets — a move favored by modern presidents
but not commonly used by employees in the executive branch, said Richard W. Painter, the chief White House ethics adviser under President George W. Bush.
Ms. Trump is the sole beneficiary, said Ms. Gorelick, who provided details of the trust and Ms. Trump’s expanding White House role in interviews.