CHINA/IVANKA/TRUMP FAMILY: “Ivanka Trump abruptly left a conference call on Tuesday [5-29-18] about a coming fitness event after receiving questions about her company’s trademarks in China and her father’s exercise regimen. White House officials insisted that she had always been scheduled to leave. Ms. Trump and Holli M. Richmond, the director of the White House Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, both hosted the call with reporters before a field day President Trump will host Wednesday [5-30-18] at the White House. At the outset, a White House official said that Ms. Trump would take a few questions before departing for a meeting, and that Ms. Richmond would handle the rest. But the first reporter to ask a question broached the number of trademarks that China recently awarded Ms. Trump’s private, eponymous brand. Around the same time, Ms. Trump’s father, the president, endorsed saving the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE, a move that surprised several people in his own administration. The company was left paralyzed after it was recently banned from buying American technology components for seven years as punishment for breaking American sanctions against some countries, including Iran and North Korea.”
-Maggie Haberman, “Ivanka Trump Abruptly Leaves Call After Question About China Trademarks,” The New York Times online, May 30, 2018