Ivanka And Celebrity Chef Jose Andres Mend Fences

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By Nathan Guttman January 29, 2018

A 24-hour Twitter spat between Trump’s daughter Ivanka and top DC chef Jose Andres ended with Andres walking back his claims and offering Ivanka an olive branch.

The storm broke out after Andres, a Spanish-born successful chef who has been a top critic of President Trump and his immigration policies, was not allowed into a party at Cafe Milano restaurant, following the Alfalfa Club dinner which brings together Washington celebrities and politicians.

“I was a guest of the #alfalfaclubdinner2018 ‘everyone welcome to the after party,’ but I’m the only individual not allow in? Is because @IvankaTrump told you so?” Andres twitted with a selfie of himself outside the restaurant’s door.

The tweet made waves, triggering Twitter fury against Ivanka for barring Andres from participating.

But by Sunday morning, the facts became clear and Andres was the one taking back his words.

“I believe now that you personally had nothing to do,” Andres tweeted at Ivanka. “Let’s now work on what’s important: Immigration reform, where #DACADreamers and Undocumented citizens will become part of a strong USA. With secure borders. With economic growth.”

Ivanka accepted the clarification, telling CNN she had “nothing to do with anything that transpired relating to him last night at the restaurant.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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