Dear Ivanka Trump, Trademarks For You or Trade for America?

Ivanka Trump is a name we hear all the time. Mrs. Trump serves as an unpaid employee in the White House but claims she holds herself subject to all of the rules other federal employees must follow. She previously manned her own fashion brand and played an integral role in the Trump Organization but is now undoubtedly a close and trusted advisor to her father, President Trump. She is even rumored to have influenced his executive decision to attack Syria. Mrs. Trump has been circulating quite a bit around the internet recently; people have opted to stop buying from her clothing company (since the election), and various memes have been made with her face in them. Her fashion brand is now placed in a trust, but she has yet to give up financial control.

Not long ago, Mrs. Trump dined with Chinese President, Xi Jinping, on the same day that China accepted three new trademarks for her company. Currently, trademark applications in her name are waiting for approval in 10 countries, according to The New York Times. Altogether, Ivanka Trump Marks L.L.C. has applied for 173 international trademarks in 21 nations, in addition to the European Union and Hong Kong. All of these applications were on record before Ms. Trump took her position in the White House; however, some have been accepted after. Many believe that this is a conflict of interest and that if she chose to serve the country, her sole focus must be The United States of America. Several people have raised the point that Mrs. Trump’s commitment should be to striking business deals on behalf of America and not herself. There is a substantial amount of disapproval when her personal gain is brought up, since she remains in financial control of her company. Nonetheless, Mrs. Trump’s brand’s “U.S. imports, almost all of them from China, shot up an estimated 166% last year, while sales hit record levels in 2017,” according to Time Magazine.

So, Mrs. Trump, trademarks for you, or trade for America?