Donald Trump was barely back in the country following his trip to the G20 summit in Hamburg when fresh allegations about his team's links with Russia surfaced. His suggestion that the US establish a cybersecurity unit with Russia might have been quietly forgotten if the president himself had not drawn attention to it in a tweet. The result was barely contained outrage from Democrats and even Republicans.
But it was controversy over his own family that really stole the limelight on Monday, the first day back in Washington for Congress after the July 4th recess.
The news that Ivanka Trump briefly took her father's place at the G20 summit had been greeted with ridicule on social media. The US president hit back on Twitter. "When I left Conference Room for short meetings with Japan and other countries, I asked Ivanka to hold seat. Very standard. Angela M agrees!" he tweeted, referring to the German chancellor's apparent dismissal of the issue when asked by reporters.
If Chelsea Clinton were asked to hold the seat for her mother,as her mother gave our country away, the Fake News would say CHELSEA FOR PRES!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2017
He continued: "If Chelsea Clinton were asked to hold the seat for her mother, as her mother gave our country away, the Fake News would say CHELSEA FOR PRES!"
Stating the obvious
The daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton shot back with a tweet. "Good morning Mr. President. It would never have occurred to my mother or my father to ask me. Were you giving our country away? Hoping not." Clinton stated the obvious – that the entire notion of a president appointing his unqualified daughter to a role in the White House is problematic. Merkel's response is equally logical. Because Ivanka Trump is a member of the administration the United States has every right to allow her to take a seat at the table. The core issue is that she was appointed to the position in the first place.
Donald Trump jnr’s behaviour is potentially more serious for the president. His confirmation that he met a Russian attorney on the promise that she was offering information on Hillary Clinton could be highly damaging.
Trump’s eldest son – who issued two different statements on the matter over the weekend – defended the move, arguing that he did not know the identity of the woman and that she gave “no meaningful information” on his father’s presidential rival.
But the development ups the stakes significantly for the US president. While it is not clear that anything illegal took place, the first confirmed meeting between a senior Trump official and a Russian seeking to destabilise the Clinton campaign is likely to form a central part of the ongoing Russia investigation by special counsel Rob Mueller.