Ivanka Trump Reportedly ‘Prodded’ Donald Trump Into Clearing Out Protestors With Tear Gas Last Summer

As historians start the process of sifting through the Trump administration and how it affects current events, a new book is shedding light on the influence Ivanka Trump had with her father during his presidency. Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta’s new book Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History sheds light on the days following George Floyd’s murder while the pandemic was raging on, and it seems that adviser Ivanka had some advice for her father during those days.

With loud protestors outside the gates of the White House on Friday, May 29, the Secret Service erred on the side of caution to move then-president Donald Trump to the bunker. While this was merely a safety precaution, the 45th president reportedly freaked out when The New York Times disclosed this piece of information to the public. According to the book, he felt it made him look like “shivering coward” instead of “the fearless Winston-Churchill-in-the-rubble image that he wanted to project.” And that’s where Ivanka reportedly stepped in with encouragement to turn this narrative around.

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“The next day he hatched a plan, prodded by his daughter Ivanka,” the book reports. “He needed to show Americans that he wasn’t cowering in the White House’s bunker. He needed to show his bravery.”

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What followed was swift action on Trump’s behalf that shocked many Americans. While Trump was speaking to reporters in the White House Rose Garden on June 1, federal forces, under orders by the president, turned a relatively peaceful protest into pure chaos in Lafayette Square. Rubber bullets, tear gas and flash grenades were launched into the crowd that included generations of Black Lives Matter supporters — from kids to Boomers. “These are not acts of peaceful protest. These are acts of domestic terror. The destruction of innocent life and the spilling of innocent blood is offense to humanity and a crime against God,” he told the press, via Nightmare Scenario. “That is why I am taking immediate Presidential action to stop the violence and restore security and safety in America.”

Many of the people who were there that day felt attacked by their own government and it led to even more division within the country. A daughter’s desire to help save her father’s image turned into a day that will go down as one of the most violent moments in his administration — all while the pandemic swirled out of control around them. Even if Ivanka had good intentions to give Donald some good PR in the emotional days after Floyd’s death, it’s hard to believe that other senior advisers didn’t step in to run through the possible consequences of such a divisive act. Instead of restoring order, it amounted to even more pandemonium.

SheKnows reached out to Ivanka Trump’s representative for comment.

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