Ivanka Trump: 'I try to stay out of politics'

close

Video

Ivanka Trump opens up about faith and family

Ainsley Earhardt's one-on-one with the president's daughter

Ivanka Trump, the media-savvy first daughter who’s also an adviser to her president dad, has a surprising admission for a woman who has become one of the most influential voices in Washington, D.C.: “I try to stay out of politics.”

Ivanka, speaking Monday morning to “Fox & Friends,” made no secret that she’s still in her political infancy – “I don’t profess to be a political savant,” she said – however, Ivanka was also clear about what, and who, she’s fighting for.

From left, Vice President Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump, daughter of President Donald Trump, and White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner listen as President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 14, 2017, about the shooting in Alexandria, Va. where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La., and others, where shot during a Congressional baseball practice. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP)

“I instead like to focus on areas where I can add positive value, where I can contribute to the agenda,” Ivanka said. “Policies around workforce development, around ensuring that barriers are removed from around the working family. Policies that enable that family to survive. Focusing on how we can help our veterans – and how we can really deliver them the care that they so need. Focusing on issues related to the really devastating opioid problem we have in this country.”

She summed up her political philosophy this way: “I’m more interested in being for something than against something.”

While mostly setting aside People magazine’s recent “Why I Disagree With My Dad” cover story – Ivanka said she didn’t contribute to it and didn’t know about it until it was on newsstands – she did allow that reports of differences between herself and President Trump aren’t all “fake news.”

“We’re different people, there are areas we disagree on,” Ivanka said. “I think it’s normal to not have 100 percent aligned viewpoints on every issue. That would be a very strange scenario. I don’t think anyone operates like that with a parent or in the context of an administration, and I think all different viewpoints being on the table is a positive thing.”

Ivanka Trump, the daughter and assistant to President Donald Trump, swings her daughter Arabella Kushner in the Rose Garden at the Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House, Thursday, June 22, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP)

But aside from being someone Trump can trust implicitly, Ivanka also said she brings another asset to the table, and one that’s not always easy to find in Washington.

“He trusts me to be very candid with my opinion,” Ivanka said. “I don’t have a hidden agenda. I make it very clear where I stand on an issue.”

But being both the first daughter and a presidential adviser comes with some odd occurrences, too.

Ivanka discussed running into her husband, White House Innovations Director Jared Kushner, nearly every day as being “really amazing.” But there are also challenges – and ones that nearly any parent can sympathize with, such as dealing with children on a sugar-high.

“They call Air Force One ‘the candy plane’ because there’s lots of M&M’s and trays of candy,” Ivanka said. “So they always exit the plane a lot more hyper.”