Ivanka isn’t the only reason these photos of Trump meeting Abe are problematic

[Chosen Daughter]

Ivanka isn’t the only reason these photos of Trump meeting Abe are problematic

Japan got to tell the story

All photos of Trump’s meeting were taken by a Japanese diplomatic staffer, and handed out by Abe’s public relations team. No US journalists were invited, putting American media in the unusual position of portraying their government-to-be through the lens of a foreign government. Similarly, information about the meeting largely came from a press event with Abe after the meeting, with Trump’s team making no official comment.


Donald Trump met with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on Nov. 17, for his first meeting with a foreign head of state as US president-elect. Only a few photos have emerged from their encounter in Trump Tower, but they speak volumes about how Trump is constructing his new presidential image.

http://qz.com/841160/ivanka-and-donald-trump-and-shinzo-abes-meeting-isnt-the-only-reason-these-photos-are-problematic/

I think the Office of The President Of The United States Of America will be unrecognizable under the Trump Presidency.  I recommend reading the story and viewing the photo's.  There is no Mike Pence present.  No Secretary of State.  Just the Trump Dynasty.  And rather odd but something I have noticed.  Trump doesn't do too much without Ivanka.  Where is Melania?

Furthermore it looks as if Trump Tower is the new White House where business will be done.  Under the secrecy of the Trump family.

[Frank Cannon]

Furthermore it looks as if Trump Tower is the new White House where business will be done.  Under the secrecy of the Trump family.

So do you expect him to meet with Abe in the Oval Office or maybe a conference room at the Holiday Inn Jetport?

[Chosen Daughter]

So do you expect him to meet with Abe in the Oval Office or maybe a conference room at the Holiday Inn Jetport?

Could be fair criticism.  What is the normal practice for President Elect?  To meet at their private residence?  Do they make phone calls?  Without any American media coverage?  And why is it Ivanka and her husband instead of the Vice President Elect?  I would be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about this but it sure doesn't seem right.  What about conflict of interest?

[uglybiker]

The whole tone of the article hints of sour grapes from the press for not being invited.

[Mom MD]

No Secretary of State was present because there is no Secretary of State yet.  And Trump was just supposed to ask Obama if he could borrow the oval office for a couple of hours?  Give me a break.  I'm no Trump fan, but I'm willing to give him a chance.  This article is ridiculous.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

This gets a big ol' "meh" for me. 


Ivanka actually gives me comfort because I often feel she's the only sane one in that family.


Trump needs to give up his damn Twitter, I'm hoping he's just getting this all out of his system before his Presidency. Because otherwise things are going well and I'm feeling more positive about things. Just get rid of "Tweeting Trump".

[mountaineer]

No Secretary of State was present because there is no Secretary of State yet.  And Trump was just supposed to ask Obama if he could borrow the oval office for a couple of hours?  Give me a break.  I'm no Trump fan, but I'm willing to give him a chance.  This article is ridiculous.

[Cripplecreek]

Not an issue right now but if this continues when Trump becomes president it is likely to be a problem.

[Chosen Daughter]

Not an issue right now but if this continues when Trump becomes president it is likely to be a problem.

Well I agree with most of the comments, but wonder why Mike Pence wasn't there instead of Ivanka and her husband.  Most of all I agree with your comment.  If it continues it is going to be a problem.  I just really have a problem with Trump using his Penthouse.  When he takes office this should stop.

[bilo]

Could be fair criticism.  What is the normal practice for President Elect?  To meet at their private residence?  Do they make phone calls?  Without any American media coverage?  And why is it Ivanka and her husband instead of the Vice President Elect?  I would be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about this but it sure doesn't seem right.  What about conflict of interest?

I think we will see a lot of things we haven't seen before. For example, Trump tweeting the Hamilton cast is something that you wouldn't expect. My first reaction was "he should just ignore it", but maybe it's time to get in the face of the liberal elites and their toadies taking the high road has not worked out well for Pubs in the past.
Also, media coverage is going to end up being very different. Trump will go straight to the public rather than through them.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I think we will see a lot of things we haven't seen before. For example, Trump tweeting the Hamilton cast is something that you wouldn't expect. My first reaction was "he should just ignore it", but maybe it's time to get in the face of the liberal elites and their toadies taking the high road has not worked out well for Pubs in the past.
Also, media coverage is going to end up being very different. Trump will go straight to the public rather than through them.

Trump tweeting about Hamilton looks downright petty in the face of all the problems in the nation and world now, but he did win so what do I know?

[bilo]

This gets a big ol' "meh" for me. 


Ivanka actually gives me comfort because I often feel she's the only sane one in that family.


Trump needs to give up his damn Twitter, I'm hoping he's just getting this all out of his system before his Presidency. Because otherwise things are going well and I'm feeling more positive about things. Just get rid of "Tweeting Trump".

Initially I was thinking the same thing about the tweeting, but maybe it's time to use modern social media instead of letting the media manipulate everything.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Could be fair criticism.  What is the normal practice for President Elect?  To meet at their private residence?  Do they make phone calls?  Without any American media coverage?

If you don't know  And why is it Ivanka and her husband instead of the Vice President Elect?  I would be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about this but it sure doesn't seem right.

I don't get this.  You apparently don't know what President-elects normally do, but are criticizing anyway.  With all due respect, I think that's the kind of thing that is setting some folks off.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with criticizing Trump because he's done something wrong or stupid.   I'm personally not happy with Bannon's role at all given the content of his interview with the Hollywood Reporter, and I frankly think conservatives should be concerned about that.  That's based on actual, verifiable substance -- words from Bannon's own mouth. 

But criticisms like this are typically the type of things Democrats make against Republicans -- criticizing actions for which there really is no basis for actual criticism, and using innuendo and insinuation to imply that something nefarious/out of the ordinary is going on when they don't really have any evidence to support that.  It amounts to "well, someone I don't like is doing something, so he must be doing something wrong."  And since when do Republicans have so much sympathy for the press not being invited to things?

As for Pence, he's in charge of the transition. That means he is busy as hell doing a lot of actual work that needs to be done in a comparatively short time frame.  And I can just see the headlines if Pence was with Trump:

"Chaos rules transition as both Trump and Pence are nowhere to be found. Is Christie plotting a coup?"

[bilo]

Trump tweeting about Hamilton looks downright petty in the face of all the problems in the nation and world now, but he did win so what do I know?

I remember Bush always taking the high road and never responding to baseless lies about him and his motives. In the end people believed the lies. The media lies. They twist everything and most people believe it. It may well be a good thing that Trump manipulates media coverage through his tweeting. I caught a news story this morning about his response to an SNL skit being unfair and asking about equal time. At first it seems petty and small, but it does raise the question is the skit fair and if not when will they be fair.

[Cripplecreek]

Well I agree with most of the comments, but wonder why Mike Pence wasn't there instead of Ivanka and her husband.  Most of all I agree with your comment.  If it continues it is going to be a problem.  I just really have a problem with Trump using his Penthouse.  When he takes office this should stop.

I think Trump fans are counting on Trump getting away with anything he pleases because he'll be president. That's an incredibly foolish and wrong assumption. Trump isn't a democrat and the democrats will be all over him and Trump also faces scrutiny from those of us on the right who haven't abandoned our ethics.

[mystery-ak]

Not an issue right now but if this continues when Trump becomes president it is likely to be a problem.

That's exactly how I feel...this was an informal meeting where no *state secrets* were discussed.

[ABX]

No Secretary of State was present because there is no Secretary of State yet.  And Trump was just supposed to ask Obama if he could borrow the oval office for a couple of hours?  Give me a break.  I'm no Trump fan, but I'm willing to give him a chance.  This article is ridiculous.

Ditto,
I also wouldn't be surprised if these type of off-site meetings with the President elect by foreign leaders is actually the norm. I do agree though about Ivanka being present. Especially have Trump denied they received security clearance (not that these meetings discuss secure national interest at this time), but if he is moving his assets to a blind trust that she runs, there should be some sort of separation of the offices beginning to happen.

In some ways, it almost looks like he is grooming her to run in the future. Which would not be surprising, it is how he has worked in his business w/ his kids.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Trump isn't a democrat and the democrats will be all over him and Trump also faces scrutiny from those of us on the right who haven't abandoned our ethics.

Well, he was hated by Dems and NeverTrumpers before the election, and won anyway.  So I'm not sure your scrutiny will matter.

That could be a real problem, too, because I think the repeated crying of "wolf" by some NeverTrumpers risks doing serious damage to efforts to address legitimate conservative concerns about the guy.  It's the same thing the Democrats did with accusations of "racism" at anything/anyone they didn't like.  After awhile, people just tuned them out.

When you guys focus on inconsequential, stupid stuff and act like it's the end of the Republic, what are you going to do when he actually starts doing/proposing dumb stuff, and people have tuned you out/dismissed you because you cried wolf one too many times?

Heck, that's part of the reason the guy won election.  People got sick of having opinions and bias rammed down their throats, and voted for Trump so as to send a big middle finger to all those who constantly claimed the sky would fall if others didn't heed their dictates.

[Chosen Daughter]

I don't get this.  You apparently don't know what President-elects normally do, but are criticizing anyway.  With all due respect, I think that's the kind of thing that is setting some folks off.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with criticizing Trump because he's done something wrong or stupid.   I'm personally not happy with Bannon's role at all given the content of his interview with the Hollywood Reporter, and I frankly think conservatives should be concerned about that.  That's based on actual, verifiable substance -- words from Bannon's own mouth. 

But criticisms like this are typically the type of things Democrats make against Republicans -- criticizing actions for which there really is no basis for actual criticism, and using innuendo and insinuation to imply that something nefarious/out of the ordinary is going on when they don't really have any evidence to support that.  It amounts to "well, someone I don't like is doing something, so he must be doing something wrong."  And since when do Republicans have so much sympathy for the press not being invited to things?

As for Pence, he's in charge of the transition. That means he is busy as hell doing a lot of actual work that needs to be done in a comparatively short time frame.  And I can just see the headlines if Pence was with Trump:

"Chaos rules transition as both Trump and Pence are nowhere to be found. Is Christie plotting a coup?"

If anyone is paying attention I am not a politician.  So no, I am not experienced.  But after thinking about what I posted I thought no, not right.   I can do some research but I think it was inappropriate.   Meeting with foreign heads of state before he has a Secretary of State.  Exerting his will without any appropriate council.  I think that a President is only as good as the experts that he brings into his Cabinet.  It stinks of Trump doing exactly what he hinted he would do.  He would rely on what Donald thinks without consulting anyone.  He said it earlier when he told us he had a plan for dealing with ISIS.  His own and he would listen to the General's but decide if he would continue with his own plan.  Furthermore it looks like a dictatorship.  No consulting.  But no I don't know what President elect do before they appoint a cabinet.  I suspect they make and except calls without making any policy before they actually have a cabinet.

As for Trump Tower and doing business there.  There is a reason it is done in the White House.  Because it is secure.  There is no control on air space there.  It is a Penthouse with wall to wall windows.  Security is a big reason.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Meeting with foreign heads of state before he has a Secretary of State.  Exerting his will without any appropriate council.  I think that a President is only as good as the experts that he brings into his Cabinet.  It stinks of Trump doing exactly what he hinted he would do.  He would rely on what Donald thinks without consulting anyone.  He said it earlier when he told us he had a plan for dealing with ISIS.  His own and he would listen to the General's but decide if he would continue with his own plan.  Furthermore it looks like a dictatorship.  No consulting.  But no I don't know what President elect do before they appoint a cabinet.

Reagan met with at least two foreign leaders prior to taking office, and before meeting with his cabinet

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/05/world/reagan-will-meet-mexico-chief-today.html

Clinton met with at least one foreign leader before becoming President and having a Secretary of State:

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/09/us/new-presidency-president-elect-clinton-says-us-will-act-fast-trade-pact-if.html

As VP, George H.W. Bush had already met with them

Can't find anything one way or the other with Dubya, although that election wasn't actually decided until mid-December, which kind of threw everything off.

Obama met with a foreign leader prior to taking office:

http://securityassistance.org/blog/president-elects-first-meeting-foreign-leader

I suspect they make and except calls without making any policy before they actually have a cabinet.

Trump cannot "make policy" until he is actually President, when he'll be busy as hell.  But now, before he takes office and has his days crammed with stuff, is an excellent time to meet other important leaders just to make a basic acquaintance and put a face to a name.  So that if/when he does need to pick up the phone and talk to a world leader after he takes office, he'll at least have met the man/woman.

As for Trump Tower and doing business there.  There is a reason it is done in the White House.  Because it is secure.  There is no control on air space there.  It is a Penthouse with wall to wall windows.  Security is a big reason.

So you're worried about privacy, but complain about the press not being invited.  Did you complain when Bush hosted foreign leaders at his ranch in Crawford, which he did quite often, rather than at the White House?

Presidents-elect don't live in the White House.  They live in their own homes until they actually take office, so there are security concerns for all Presidents-elect.  It's the nature of the position that they are not in the White House.

You're looking for things to be upset about.

ETA:  Oh, and apparently Pence did attend at least part of the meeting:

http://www.rightdaily.com/people-see-president-elect-trumps-1st-meeting-with-a-foreign-leader-all-they-talk-about-is-ivanka/