Prsident Trump has lashed out at US retailer Nordstrom in his latest inflammatory tweet, following news that the department store has dropped his daughter Ivanka's fashion line from its stores and website.
'My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom,' the President tweeted from both his personal and official White House account. 'She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!'
Trump's message has caused some to ask questions about the ethics of his actions over a matter connected to his family's personal fortunes.
Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, commented 'I think it's inappropriate, but he's a totally inappropriate president, so it's totally in keeping with who he is.' On Twitter, Senator Bob Casey directed the US Office of Government Ethics towards Trump's message.
Sean Spicer, the White House Press Secretary, supported the president by claiming Nordstrom's action was 'an attack on [Trump's] daughter.'
'For people to take out their concern about his actions, or his executive orders, on members of his family, he has every right to stand up for his family,' he said.
The brand, meanwhile, has stood by its decision in a new statement, released after the President's tweet. 'To reiterate what we've already shared when asked, we made this decision based on performance,' it read.
'Over the past year, and particularly the last half of 2016, sales of the brand have steadily declined to the point where it didn't make good business sense for us to continue with the line for now. We've had a great relationship with the Ivanka Trump team. We've had open conversations with them over the past year to share what we've seen and Ivanka was personally informed of our decision in early January.'
It has since emerged that Neiman Marcus, another US department store, has dropped the line.
Ivanka Trump’s fashion line was dropped by the major US department store last week, after an online boycott of the label emerged last year.
The #GrabYourWallet campaign was started by Shannon Coulter in October, in response to Donald Trump’s father’s derogatory, misogynistic ‘grab them by the pussy’ remarks and the allegations of sexual harassment that have been raised against him.
At the time, a spokesperson from the department store was careful to point out that the decision had been made based on the brand’s declining sales, rather than any particular political leanings.
‘This was a decision made entirely based on brand performance. We’ve said all along we make buying decisions based on performance,’ the brand told Business Insider. ‘We’ve got thousands of brands – more than 2,000 offered on the site alone. Reviewing their merit and making edits is part of the regular rhythm of our business.’
‘In this case, based on the brand’s performance we’ve decided not to buy it for this season.’
The brand maintained this position on their social media accounts, responding to one tweet with the statement: ‘Our buying decisions are based on sales, so it was not a political decision for us. We’re sorry for any disappointment.’
According to Coulter, Nordstrom was stocking as many as 71 Ivanka Trump products online in December, which dropped to 26 last week. As of this Wednesday, nine pieces were available, and by yesterday, Nordstrom’s landing page for Ivanka’s products was entirely empty.
‘I am absolutely thrilled, and I know the vast majority of Grab Your Wallet participants will be as well,’ Coulter told Bloomberg News.
The President’s eldest daughter launched her eponymous fashion line back in 2011, with Nordstrom as one of her first key retail partners. Since #GrabYourWallet went viral last year, the line has been dropped by Canadian website Shoes.com and interior design store Bellacor.
Though the role which Ivanka will take on in the Trump administration is not yet clear, she is widely assumed to be a close and trusted advisor to her father. Before his inauguration, Ivanka announced that she would be stepping back from her company, and from the Trump Organisation, in order to prevent any potential conflicts of interest.
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