Expressions of tortured politeness
She was there why, again?
The abiding image from this year’s G20 summit will not be Donald Trump sharing another chuckle with Vladimir Putin. It is the clip of his daughter, Ivanka, inserting herself into an awkward circle of world leaders. The video, released by the French government, shows varying expressions of tortured politeness as Ms Trump intrudes on a discussion between France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Theresa May, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF. Ms Lagarde, in particular, was unable to conceal her irritation.
It’s not as if they’re gathered in Trump’s personal living room and Ivanka is an adorable toddler who has escaped from Nanny for a moment.
What they were discussing is secondary. Mr Macron made a point about social justice. Mrs May replied that people notice when the economy is brought into it. Ms Trump then interrupted with a non sequitur about how the defence industry is male-dominated. The real point is that America’s self-named “First Daughter” is rarely out of the frame at global summits.
Photobombing is her one skill.
Video for those without FT subscriptions:
https://mobile.twitter.com/ParhamGhobadi/status/1145074623035449357
“First daughter.” Someone’s managed to use a phrase even more irritating than “First Lady”, and that’s saying something.
Is there sound anywhere? Maybe she was offering them a drink or a canape.
There is sound. She’s babbling helplessly. (The tweet I posted first has sound.)
The “She was there why” links to an offer of me sending them money to get something…
Sorry. The link worked this morning.
The tweet I posted also has sound…at least it does for me. If it doesn’t work for you, just read the description Ophelia posted and look at the expressions on everyone’s faces and you’ll get the idea.
She doesn’t even know that she’s eliciting nothing but withering scorn from everyone else.
I mean, we’ve all had “I’ll get my coat” moments where we’ve tried to contribute to a conversation despite idiocy, but I think most of us realised immediately how badly we missed the mark or dug ourselves a hole so deep that it finally became obvious that we should not be allowed spades in the first place.
But Ivanka seems entirely unaware that the people around her are not her peers, were not interested in what she had to say in the first place and were not surprised by the quality of her ‘contribution’.
That double-take by Lagarde is hilarious.
In short Ivanka seems entirely unaware that she has no business trying to shove herself into that conversation – that she’s out of her depth and at the same time a corrupt nepotistic illegal hire. There is no official role for a president’s children at global conferences of government officials. None.