Selfies and sanctions: Cheerleader-in-chief Ivanka flashes hearts and smiles at the Winter Olympics - but echoes her father's tough-love stance on North Korea vowing 'maximum pressure' and the 'heaviest sanctions yet'
- Ivanka Trump arrived in South Korea on Friday as she takes on diplomatic duties at the Winter Olympics
- She had dinner with President Moon Jae-in and his wife in Seoul where the issue of North Korea was raised
- Ivanka pledged to maintain her father's 'maximum-pressure campaign' to push for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons
- The 36-year-old also attended the men's Big Air competition at the Pyeongchang Olympics today
- Wearing a Team USA hat and red snowsuit, she flashed a heart sign for Team USA during the snowboarding
- She is also due to lead Team USA in the closing ceremony on Sunday, alongside North Koreans
- Ivanka's arrival comes after Kim Jong-un sent sister Kim Yo-jong to the opening ceremony
- President Trump tweeted shortly after Ivanka touched down in Incheon, throwing his full support behind her
- 'We cannot have a better, or smarter, person representing our country,' he wrote
- Her visit comes after President Trump claimed to have rolled out 'the heaviest sanctions ever imposed on a country' including a shipping blockade
- Ivanka has no scheduled meeting with US athletes, after skater Adam Rippon refused to meet Mike Pence
Ivanka Trump played America's cheerleader at the Winter Olympics on Friday, when she flashed a heart sign for Team USA during the snowboarding.
But
Ivanka ensured she kept on message when it came to politics and during
an earlier dinner with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, she pledged
to maintain her father's 'maximum-pressure campaign' to push for North
Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
Today,
the First Daughter was pictured, in a Team USA hat and red snowsuit,
cheering and smiling as she watched snowboarders vying for medals at the
men's Big Air competition at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
She
was joined in the stands by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim
Jung-sook, International Olympic Committee member and 1998 ice hockey
gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, as well as a rather gloomy looking White
House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
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The
trio watched as Team USA's Kyle Mack landed himself an Olympic silver
medal in the men's snowboard big air, with some impressive stunts and
twisting leap called the ‘Bloody Dracula’. Gold went to Canada’s Sebastien Toutant and bronze to Britain’s Billy Morgan.
Ivanka,
who will lead the U.S. delegation at the closing ceremony Sunday, was
later seen posing for selfies and chatting with Kim Jung-suk.
Ivanka Trump flashes a heart for Team USA at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, on 24 February
The First Daughter was pictured,
in a Team USA hat and red snowsuit, cheering and smiling as she watched
snowboarders vying for medals at the men's Big Air competition at the
Pyeongchang Olympics, next to Kim Jung-sook, wife of South Korea's
President Moon Jae-in
Ivanka Trump, left, watches with
Kim Jung-sook, wife of the South Korean President and South Korean
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, right, during the men's Big Air
snowboard competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Get red hot on the slopes like Ivanka
Ivanka Trump isn't just about high heels and
fancy ball gowns. She's quite the sportswoman too as an avid runner who
also enjoys skiing and golfing from time to time. So it was only fitting
that she represent the US delegation at the Winter Olympics in
Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The First Daughter watched the men's snowboarding Big Air competition from the stands dressed in this Spyder ski suit that she wore before during a family ski trip to Aspen, Colorado.
We love the bright hue of Ivanka's onesie as well as the slim fit and multiple zippers. The Canadian based label has been around since 1977 and they've been a must have performance brand since then.
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The First Daughter watched the men's snowboarding Big Air competition from the stands dressed in this Spyder ski suit that she wore before during a family ski trip to Aspen, Colorado.
We love the bright hue of Ivanka's onesie as well as the slim fit and multiple zippers. The Canadian based label has been around since 1977 and they've been a must have performance brand since then.
Keen to copy? Click right buy a similar suit from the Spyder website. Alternatively, keep cozy this winter in one of the lookalike options lined up below from Topshop, Asos, Perfect Moment and Fusalp.
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Ivanka Trump, daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump, watches the men's Big Air snowboard competition
Ivanka jumped to her feet as she
watched the final of the men's snowboard big air event at the Alpensia
Ski Jumping Centre. to her right was wife of Korean President Moon
Jae-in, Kim Jung-sook, to her left was US IOC member Angela Ruggiero,
and sat one seat further down was White House press secretary Sarah
Huckabee Sanders
Ivanka Trump (R), reached out to
get the attention of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders
during one tense moment in the Games
The
first daughter's arrival in the country is a deliberate riposte to
North Korea after Kim Jong-un sent his sister Kim Yo-jong to the opening
ceremony of the Winter Games, along with an army of 100 cheerleaders,
completely upstaging Vice President Mike Pence in the process.
Interestingly,
Yo-jong was referred to by many as 'the Ivanka of North Korea' - as
both wield a powerful influence over the respective leaders of their
countries.
Last night, shortly after
landing, Ivanka met President Moon Jae-in for dinner where the Korean
leader joked that whenever he spoke to Donald Trump on the phone, he'd
ask about ticket sales for the Olympics, the New York Times reports.
Moon
also highlighted the importance of easing tensions between the North
and South, and credited: 'President Trump's strong support for
inter-Korean dialogue.'
'North Korea's
participation in the Winter Olympic Games has served as an opportunity
for us to engage in active discussions between the two Koreas, and this
has led to lowering of tensions on the peninsula,' he said.
Ivanka Trump, South Korean first
lady Kim Jung-sook and South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha
attend the Men's Snowboarding Big Air Final at the Alpensia Ski Jumping
Centre during day fifteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games
in South Korea
President Donald Trump's
daughter and senior White House adviser, Ivanka Trump reacts as Kim
Jung-sook, wife of South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, cheers in the
stands
International Olympic Committee
(IOC) member and 1998 gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, Ivanka Trump and
South Korea's first lady Kim Jung-sook look amused as they watch the
Men's Snowboard Big Air finals at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre
Kyle Mack, of the United States,
jumps during the men's Big Air snowboard competition at the 2018 Winter
Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Saturday, watched on by Ivanka
Gold medal winner Sebastien
Toutant, of Canada, is flanked by silver medal winner Kyle Mack, of the
United States, left, and bronze medal winner Billy Morgan, of Great
Britain
Ivanka responded saying
she was in South Korea to 'reaffirm our bonds of friendship and
partnership' but also 'to reaffirm our commitment to our
maximum-pressure campaign to ensure that the Korean Peninsula is
denuclearized,' according to a media pool report.
White
House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders echoed her words later,
saying that the president wouldn't be 'soft or weak' on Pyongyang,
despite an apparent Korean detente as the North takes part in the Winter
Games, just 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the peninsula's heavily armed
border.
'We're going to continue a
campaign of maximum pressure,' Sanders told journalists in Pyeongchang.
'The latest sanctions were the strongest that we have had on North
Korea.'
'The latest sanctions were the strongest that we have had on North Korea,' she said.
'Hopefully we'll see a change on the part of the North Koreans to start to denuclearise the peninsula, that's what our focus is.
She added: 'I can tell you the president won't make the mistakes the previous administration has and be soft or weak.'
Ivanka chats animatedly with IOC member Angela Ruggiero during the men's Big Air snowboard competition
Ivanka Trump (L) and Kim
Jung-sook (R) posed for a selfie while watching the final of the men's
snowboard big air event at the Games
Ivanka and Kim Jung-sook appeared to be having a good time together at the games, laughing and joking
Ivanka also agreed to have a
selfie with a South Korean athlete during the Games today. Ivanka will
remain in South Korea to lead Team USA during the closing ceremony
During
the dinner reception, Ivanka mirrored Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook's
outfit by donning all black. She posed next to the presidential couple
in a knee-length dress with three-quarter sleeves and a plunging
neckline.
Kim, meanwhile, donned a similar dress with long sleeves, which she paired with purple pumps.
The menu was prepared to meet kosher standards in line with Ivanka's Orthodox Jewish faith.
The appetizers were lotus root and pear salad and jujube - a local red date - porridge.
Ivanka's entree was grilled soft tofu with special marinade, while the rest of the table had charcoal grilled ribs.
Bother
were served with bibimbap and bean sprout soup, while for dessert there
was a trio of flavors of strawberry, followed by citrus tea which was
served with dried persimmon and deep fried walnut.
In
a symbol of American-South Korean relations red wine was from the Napa
Valley, while white was from Chungbuk province in South Korea.
Ivanka Trump met with South
Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday night at the presidential office
in Seoul, ahead of a weekend that will be spent cheering on Team USA at
the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang
The first daughter made a
stunning appearance in Seoul, where she attended a dinner with Moon,
weeks after Kim Jong-un sent his glamorous sister Kim Yo-jong to the
opening ceremony, upstaging Vice President Mike Pence in the process
Ivanka
appeared relaxed and happy as she sat down alongside Moon, flanked by
the US delegation she is leading to the closing ceremony
Moon said before the dinner that he planned to raise the issue of talks between North Korea and the United States with Ivanka
The South Korean president spoke at some length with Ivanka during the dinner
The first daughter will now
spend Saturday watching Team USA compete in the final stages of the
Games, and will then attend the closing ceremony, where she will meet
Kim Yong-chol, head of North Korea's national intelligence bureau
Video playing bottom right...
White House officials said Ivanka would be cheering on Team USA and bolstering the US's alliance with South Korea.
Donald
Trump had tweeted early Friday, praising his daughter, saying: 'We
cannot have a better, or smarter, person representing our country.'
North
Korea's delegation at the closing ceremony will be headed by top
general Kim Yong Chol, who is widely blamed for a series of attacks
against the South including the 2010 sinking of a warship, with the loss
of 46 lives.
US Vice-President Mike
Pence awkwardly sat almost directly in front of Kim Jong Un's sister,
Kim Yo Jong, at the Olympics opening ceremony, where athletes from the
two Koreas marched together.
But
Sanders said she believed the seating arrangements would be different on
Sunday as the curtain falls on the Games at Pyeongchang Olympic
Stadium.
'As of now we don't understand
that to be the plan,' she said, when asked if Ivanka Trump would be
sitting close to the North Koreans. 'We have no planned meetings or
interactions with North Korea.'
Menu: This was the Korean offering
Ivanka is due to lead the US delegation at the closing ceremony on Sunday.
However
her presence in the country may in fact highlight the growing tension
between many of Team USA's athletes and her father President Trump.
Ivanka has no official meetings scheduled with any of the country's
competitors while she is in South Korea, with many of them already
publicly stating that they want nothing to do with her father's White
House.
Asked whether Ivanka Trump
would shake hands or perform some other 'polite' gesture with the North
Koreans, Sanders said: 'As of now there's nothing planned.'
Her
visit comes after President Trump claimed to have rolled out 'the
heaviest sanctions ever imposed on a country' including a shipping
blockade.
'If the sanctions don't work,
we'll have to go to phase two. Phase two may be a very rough thing,'
the president said in Washington, without elaborating.
Sanders, when asked if the US would use force to impose sanctions, replied: 'I'm not going to get into specifics'.
Figure
skater Adam Rippon has previously refused to meet with Vice President
Pence, and told DailyMail.com exclusively earlier this month he would
not attend Trump's White House party for Team USA.
'I
have no desire to go to the White House. But I would like to do
something to help my community,' Rippon, who has criticized the
administration's attitude towards LGBT people, added at the time.
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Ivanka sat next to the South Korean president during the dinner that followed her arrival on Friday
The first daughter was shown to her seat by the South Korean president during their gathering at the Presidential Blue House
She seemed in high spirits during the dinner, which saw her chat animatedly with the presidential couple
Ivanka looked pensive as Moon made a point over the course of the evening
The first daughter also sat close to South Korean First Lady Kim Jung-sook during the official dinner
The arrival of Ivanka in South Korea
has inevitably drawn comparisons to Yo Jong's appearance, which
captivated the South Korean media.
Ivanka
told reporters as she arrived at Incheon airport that she is 'very,
very excited to attend the 2018 Winter Olympic Games [and] cheer for
team USA.'
Chol will arrive in the
country on Sunday and is due to stay for three days afterward, during
which he will hold talks with Moon.
Moon hopes to make the Olympics an avenue for peace on the divided Korean Peninsula.
But
while the games appear to have paved a way for possible rapprochement
between the Koreas, U.S. and North Korean officials have yet to make
direct contact.
After
meeting with President Moon (left) Ivanka was led inside by Kim who
motioned for her to remove her shoes before entering (right)
Ivanka will stay in South Korea
for four days while cheering on Team USA at the Winter Olympics before
attending the closing ceremony
The first daughter and Moon also posed for photos with the South Korean first lady outside the Presidential Blue House
Ivanka arrived in South Korea
for a four-day stay to lead a U.S. delegation to the closing ceremony of
the PyeongChang Winter Olympics
President Trump tweeted shortly after Ivanka touched down in Incheon, throwing his full support behind his daughter
Moon
met Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Kim
Yong Nam, North Korea's nominal head of state, a day after the opening
ceremony and urged North Korea to do more to engage in a dialogue with
the United States.
Relations between
the North and the United States hit an all-time low during 2017 after
Kim tested a record number of ballistic missiles including one which can
likely range the whole of the United States.
Donald
Trump repeatedly engaged in a fiery war of words with Kim, at one point
bragging that his nuclear button was 'bigger' than the dictator's.
He
also threatened to unleash 'fire and fury like the world has never
seen' in the event that Kim attacked the US or its allies, and told the
UN he would 'totally destroy' North Korea if war broke out in the
region.
In return, Kim branded Trump a
'mentally deranged US dotard' and vowed to continue testing missiles
before declaring the North's nuclear program complete.
In
the middle of the two warring leaders, Moon attempted to play
peace-maker, often suggesting that America would need his permission
before starting a war - a claim the US flatly denied.
North
Korea has used the Olympics as an opportunity to stage a charm
offensive, flying in a squad of cheerleaders and allowing its ice
skaters to compete under a unified Korean flag with their counterparts
from the South.
Ivanka
arrived in South Korea on Friday evening leading the US delegation that
will attend the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics
The first daughter opted for a
white and black hounds tooth coat, a white roll-neck jumper, matching
skirt and heavy back boots as she climbed off the plane
Ivanka is scheduled to attend the games on Saturday and then watch the closing ceremony on Sunday
While
Ivanka traveled to South Korea, her husband Jared Kushner remained at
home in D.C. where he was pictured on his way to the office on Friday
morning
All the while Kim has
been keen to dangle the prize of Korean reunification in the air,
suggesting that peace could be possible without American interference.
However,
analysts have warned that the North is unlikely to give up its nuclear
weapons in return for peace on the peninsula, and is playing world
leaders along.
As a reminder of the
kind of regime Kim runs, Pence attended the opening ceremony alongside a
delegation of North Korean defectors.
Each
brought with them their own story of brutal repression under Kim's
rule, and were joined by Fred Warmbier, the father of student Otto who
died after being sentenced to prison with hard labor for stealing a
propaganda poster.
Warmbier was on a
trip to the North when he was caught on CCTV taking the poster for a
dare, and was subsequently sentenced to 15 years in jail.
However, he served just 17 months of that sentence before being handed back to US authorities in a coma, dying just days later.
While
Pence's stunt did draw some media attention, it was largely
overshadowed by Kim Yo Jong's attendance which marked the first time a
member of the Kim dynasty has come South since the Korean War.
Ivanka
was spotted leaving her house in Washington, D.C. and heading to the
airport on Thursday, in a wrap coat featuring a navy and white dotted
pattern
Ivanka's
presence at the closing ceremony comes after Kim Jong Un sent his
glamorous sister, Kim Yo Jong, to the opening of the games where she sat
close to Mike Pence
Pence had brought a delegation
of North Korean defectors and Fred Warmbier, father of Otto who died
after being imprisoned by North Korea, to the games - but failed to
shift the limelight from Kim
North Korea will also send a
delegation to the closing ceremony led by General Kim Yong Chol, though
official say it is 'unlikely' he will meet Ivanka
Ivanka
was spotted leaving her house in Washington, D.C. and heading to the
airport on Thursday, in a wrap coat featuring a navy and white dotted
pattern.
The first daughter was
scheduled to fly to commercially to Seoul for her dinner with the South
Korean president before traveling to PyeongChang.
She wore her spring coat over a a dress and topped off the look with a pair of navy blue suede heels featuring ankle straps.
Although
she opted for one of her standard ladylike outfits, Ivanka changed up
her hair, which is usually blown out straight or in loose curls.
For
her trip to the airport, her locks were styled in voluminous waves that
were a far cry from the more classic hairstyles she has worn in the
past.
Ivanka was first photographed leaving the front door of her home carrying a white handbag from her eponymous clothing line.
After
she realized her Secret Service SUV wasn't parked out front, she walked
downstairs and headed back inside her home, using the gated door
located under the front steps.
While
Ivanka making final preparations before her flight, a housekeeper was
seen carrying a purple suitcase and a white garment bag to the Secret
Service SUV that was parked outside of her home.
When
she returned outside using the gated door around 10:30 a.m., Ivanka
flashed a bright smile and gave a wave to the photographers waiting
outside for her.
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