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Ivanka Trump’s Seating Arrangement At Xi Event Raises Major Eyebrows

Blurring the lines

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561 points

Being “just a private citizen” apparently still gets you a better seat than the Secretary of State.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington Thursday for his first U.S. visit in more than a decade, a three-day trip built around trade talks, AI cooperation, and a formal welcome ceremony on the South Lawn.  Cameras caught Trump and Xi speaking side by side, right along with who landed which seat.

Ivanka Trump, 44, sat with her 15-year-old daughter Arabella in a row that included Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance. That put her closer to the podium than Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, all of whom watched from several rows further back.

Wall Street Journal correspondent Meridith McGraw was among the first to flag the arrangement, noting on X that Ivanka and Arabella sat between Rubio and Second Lady Vance.

Journalist Aaron Rupar shared his own footage of the scene, asking a question a lot of people were apparently wondering too: “Who did the seating arrangement for the Pres and Xi? Ivanka is seated better than Cabinet Secretaries Rubio and Bessent.”

AMERICAblog founder John Aravosis took the criticism further, calling the whole scene bizarre. “WTF are Ivanka and Trump’s granddaughter doing there?” he wrote. “I swear that family is so weird. Any normal person would be mortified that you included them alongside the cabinet.”

Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren questioned the protocol itself, asking “Who did the seating arrangement for the Pres and Xi?” and noting that “Ivanka is seated better than Cabinet Secretaries Rubio and Bessent … this is a State visit.”

Others went further.

A Trump seating chart has stirred up questions about China before, too.

Back in 2017, during Trump’s first term, Ivanka briefly took his seat at a G20 meeting in Hamburg while he stepped out for bilateral talks, sitting between Xi and then-British Prime Minister Theresa May. Russian sherpa Svetlana Lukash, who photographed the scene, wrote at the time that Ivanka “replaces Pres Trump at the #G20 table as he leaves for bilateral meetings.”

A White House official later confirmed she’d filled in once the World Bank president began addressing the session.

Arabella’s connection to Xi runs even further back than that. She’s studied Mandarin for years, and Trump has shown Chinese officials footage of her singing and reciting classical poetry in the language, a routine that reportedly dates to a 2017 trip to Beijing.

That same year, Ivanka’s fashion brand picked up provisional approval for three trademarks in China, granting rights to sell jewelry, bags, and spa services there, on the same day she attended a Mar-a-Lago dinner with Xi.

Ivanka has spent her father’s second term publicly distancing herself from politics. She closed her Ivanka Trump Marks brand earlier this year and told Fox News back in 2022 she wanted to focus on “the private life we are creating as a family.”

Featured image via X screengrab 

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Terry Lawson

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Terry is an editor and political writer based in Alabama. Over the last five years, he’s worked behind the scenes as a ghostwriter for a range of companies, helping shape voices and tell stories that connect. Now at Political Tribune, he writes sharp political pieces and edits with a close eye on clarity and tone. Terry’s work is driven by strong storytelling, attention to detail, and a clear sense of purpose. He’s skilled in writing, editing, and project management — and always focused on getting the message right. You can find him on X at https://x.com/TerryNotTrump.

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