Image by Getty Images

The Chinese government granted a trademark approval on Sunday to Ivanka Trump’s company for the 13th time in the last three months — raising questions about conflicts of interest at the White House, Time reported.

While the first daughter ended her management of the Ivanka brand when she took on a senior adviser role in Washington, she reportedly continues to profit from the business, which sells a host of items including kitchenware, chocolate and furniture.

“More conflicts of interest and more potential for using the White House for self-enrichment,” Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, tweeted about the trademarks.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“It raises significant questions about corruption, as it invites the possibility that she could be benefiting financially from her position and her father’s presidency or that she could be influenced in her policy work by countries’ treatment of her business,” Bookbinder wrote to Time.

The World Intellectual Property Organization’s global brand database reportedly showed that the company, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC, also won three trademarks in the Philippines after President Trump took office— filed February 8, 2017 and March 1, 2017.

Ivanka and her father have pursued trademarks in dozens of countries, but concerns about political influence on trademarks have been especially prevalent in China, where the courts and bureaucracy are controlled by the ruling Communist Party.

Chinese officials reportedly emphasized that all trademark applications are handled in accordance with the law.

Contact Haley Cohen at [email protected]

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount