Washington: The potential for conflicts of interest between President-elect Donald Trump and his family's business ventures have emerged again, after a photograph was distributed that showed his daughter Ivanka at a meeting between Trump and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
It was Trump's first meeting with a foreign head of state since his stunning election victory, and one that was closely watched for his demeanour as the incoming leader of the free world.
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Japan's Abe meets Trump in hastily arranged NY meeting
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants to build a relationship of trust when he meets U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, stressing that the two-way alliance is the core of Tokyo's diplomacy and security.
News media were not allowed to attend the session and no summary was provided about what was discussed. A separate photograph was distributed - press photographers were not allowed to cover the event - showing that Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump's husband, was present for at least part of the hastily organised gathering.
Abe of Japan said after the meeting that he had had a "very candid discussion" with Trump. He did not discuss who else attended the gathering or elaborate on the topics discussed.
After Trump's transition office was asked by The New York Times about allowing Ivanka Trump to attend the meeting, an individual close to the family, who said she did not have authorisation to provide her name, hinted that Ivanka Trump would not be attending meetings like this in the future.
"Mr Trump has always encouraged Ivanka and his children to attend meetings with him," the person close to the family said. "This meeting in question was very informal. However, they obviously need to adjust to the new realities at hand, which they will."
Ivanka Trump will be among family members who will be placed in charge of her father's business enterprises, which include an international chain of hotels with operations in Latin America, Europe and North America.
She serves as vice president of development and acquisitions for the Trump Organisation, and the company's website says one of her "primary focuses has been to bring the Trump Hotel brand to global markets".
She also owns a jewellery business, Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, with the Trump Organisation describing her as "one of the most recognised and influential young businesswomen today".
This week, her jewellery company sent out a notice to reporters with a photograph of her wearing a $US10,800 ($14, 300) gold bangle bracelet that she had worn during an interview her family did with 60 Minutes, trying to use the appearance as an opportunity to sell more items.
"Please find attached a style alert of Ivanka wearing her favourite bangle from the Metropolis Collection over the weekend on 60 Minutes," Monica Marder, her vice president of salessaid in the email.
Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight said regardless of what was discussed at the Abe meeting, it was inappropriate for Ivanka Trump to be present among such a small group of people given that she is an executive at a corporation involved in international business development.
These early episodes demonstrate, Brian said, why Donald Trump must put his assets into a blind trust, in which an independent party manages them, instead of turning them over to his children to manage, as he has proposed.
"You can't have people with financial conflicts of interest mixing with White House business," Brian said.
The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial on Friday, went so far as to urge the President-elect to sell off all his hotels, golf courses and other assets, and the take that cash and turn it over to a blind trust, as that would be the only way to avoid all possible conflicts.
New York Times