Trump defends Ivanka, says he told her to ‘hold seat’ at G20 meet

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday strongly defended his daughter Ivanka Trump, who has come under fire for sitting on her father's chair during a G20 meeting in Germany last week, saying what she did was "very standard".

Ivanka briefly sat on her father's chair during a G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, while Trump was meeting other world leaders.

The mainstream media and leaders of the opposition Democratic Party, including some of the top aides of former US President Barack Obama, criticised Ivanka for this.

Trump has slammed such criticism as politically motivated. He has accused the media of having double standards on this issue.

"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!" Trump said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the host of the G-20 Summit last week, has said that it is for the host country to decide who would represent them.

"The delegations themselves decide, should the president not be present for a meeting, who will then take over and sit in the chair," Merkel said.

Read: Melania Trump unable to exit Hamburg guesthouse due to anti-G20 protests

"Ivanka Trump was part and parcel of the American delegation, so that is something that other delegations also do. It's very well known that she works at the White House and is also engaged in certain initiatives," Merkel told reporters during a news conference.

Besides being Trump's daughter, businesswoman Ivanka, 35, is also a senior and one of the closest advisers to the US President.

In the last six months, she has been involved in several key initiatives of the Trump administration in particular those related to women and entrepreneurship.

She is slated to visit India later this year to attend the eighth edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. She would be leading the American delegation.