Ivanka Trump says she declined president’s offer to head World Bank

Ivanka Trump turned down a job at the World Bank to keep working in her father’s administration.

Ms. Trump, who is touring Africa to promote women’s rights, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the president offered her the job of World Bank chief, but she passed on it because she is happy in her role as White House senior adviser. Treasury Department official David Malpass got the job instead.

President Donald Trump praised his daughter Ivanka’s “natural” diplomatic ability in an interview with The Atlantic Friday and added that he thought she would be good for the job because she’s “good with numbers.”

Crunching numbers

In an interview with the AP in the Ivory Coast, Ivanka Trump said that her father pitched the job as “a question” about whether she wanted to work for the bank, but she told him she was “happy with the work” she’s doing. Trump said that she worked with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on selecting a candidate for the role, which went to Malpass.

“He did ask me about that. But I love the work that I’m doing. And myself and Secretary Mnuchin…oversaw the process of selecting the final candidate and bringing multiple candidates to the president,” Ivanka Trump said.

The president’s eldest daughter said that she and Mnuchin had a “strong preference” for Malpass, who she said will do an “unbelievable” job fulfilling the bank’s mission to “eradicate poverty” and empower women in the workforce. Ms. Trump, who is known for her work on women’s economic empowerment, said that Malpass is aligned with that goal.

“He also cares deeply about women’s economic empowerment and that the mission of the World Bank is to eradicate poverty,” she said. “And one of the smartest ways to do that is by targeting women…the education of women and girls, skills training, economic opportunities.”

Ivanka Trump is currently visiting Africa to promote her Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, which she launched in February. The tour includes a World Bank policy summit.

“This mission is crucial to the peace and stability of Nations and is achievable if we focus our collaborative efforts on job training, entrepreneurship and breaking down the legal and cultural barriers that restrict women from achieving their full economic potential,” she said.

The president’s daughter has expressed a goal of economically empowering 50 million women by 2025.

Watch Ivanka Trump talk about the World Bank job offer below:

Diplomatic daughter

When asked if her father considered her for any other top jobs, Ivanka Trump said, “I’ll keep that between us.”

Ms. Trump also said that she does not envision a run for office in the future. Her father told The Atlantic Friday that Ivanka would be “very, very hard to beat” if she ran for president, but said his daughter hasn’t shown interest in running for office.

President Trump also said in that interview that Ivanka is “unique” and a “natural diplomat,” which would make her a good fit to lead the U.N., but said he didn’t push for the role because he wanted to avoid accusations of nepotism.

“She’s a natural diplomat,” he added. “She would’ve been great at the United Nations, as an example… [But] if I did, they’d say nepotism, when it would’ve had nothing to do with nepotism. But she would’ve been incredible.”