Ivanka Trump will be an asset in her new role at the White House

The news that Ivanka Trump will have her own office in the West Wing of the White House set off an avalanche of outrage, especially inside the beltway.

Just because something is a little bit out of the ordinary, doesn’t mean it won’t be positive. One of greatest assets our new president brings to the office is an ability to identify, and apply, talent — his daughter among them.

{mosads}Don’t forget, 2016 was a change election. Donald Trump was elected precisely because he did not fit the mold of a Washington politician. He is going to do things differently. After all, the Washington way hasn’t exactly been working.

Even the announcement that Ivanka Trump will become a federal employee and take the title “assistant to the president” — meaning she is formally bound by the federal ethics laws she was already following voluntarily — has done little to quell the attacks. Mind you, this accomplished businesswoman will not be paid to work for the government, which is quite a bargain for the taxpayers.

But the naysayers continue making their snap judgments, impugning motives, and predicting disastrous outcomes. One might applaud them for being so clairvoyant if their vision wasn’t so clouded by a toxic mix of envy, sexism, and political calculation.

What truly underlies all these attacks on the president’s daughter? Jealousy, for one. Ivanka Trump is intelligent, is beautiful and is successful, and she has the trust… and the ear… of the most powerful man in the world. Who happens to be her father.

As she puts it, she will be doing what she’s always done: “I will continue to offer my father my candid advice and counsel, as I have for my entire life.” Celebrity Apprentice watchers will recall her fulfilling a similar role.

From Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Martha Randolph, to Grover Cleveland’s sister, Elizabeth Rose, American history is filled with first daughters, daughters-in-law, nieces, cousins and aunts who were not the first lady but played an important part in a president’s success.

What is so different about Ivanka having her father’s ear while he’s in the White House? That she’s not “keeping to her place” but has input on policy?

We are not talking about 13-year-old Amy Carter advising her father on nuclear proliferation. Ivanka Trump is an incredible woman, who is smart and cares about the things that are sometimes missed by men who hold office.

Ivanka’s influence is credited, for example, with the president’s early and strong resolve to take on the scourge of human trafficking, a priority policy focus of my organization, the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW). As president of the NFRW, I had the privilege of watching Ivanka Trump in action last year, at the convention in Cleveland and speaking at campaign rallies. I saw the reality as quietly, in her own gentle way, she worked to garner support for her father’s presidential bid.

Along the campaign trail, as I traveled across the country myself, engaging women to unify behind Donald Trump and encouraging them to register and vote, Ivanka was a strong plus. Women noticed her, listened to her, and believed her. Not just because she was a successful businesswoman in her own right who had helped her father’s commercial real estate business flourish, but because what she said made sense.

For those who are determined to see Donald Trump fail, Ivanka’s connection to women and the millennial generation is a threat, perhaps the real reason they are so determined to put a giant “Do Not Enter” sign on her White House office door.

The rest of us should throw the door wide open and welcome Ivanka. She will help her father succeed, and in turn, America will succeed. And who doesn’t want to make America Great again?

Carrie Almond is president of the National Federation of Republican Women, one of the largest groups in the nation that provides a forum for women to serve as leaders in politics and government, founded in 1938.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.