Let’s not fool ourselves - Donald Trump’s track record for women’s rights and equality has never really looked great. Remember the 'grab them by the pussy' fiasco? Yeah, that was a good one. Or when he said that abortion should have 'some form of punishment?'
Well, just when you thought it couldn’t get much worse, figures have shown the gender pay gap for staff working in the White House has tripled. Yes, you read that right - tripled. According to Business Insider, the pay gap between male and female employees at Trump HQ shot up from 11% to 37% since he took administration.
It was also released that just 6 of the 23 highest paid positions in the White House are being occupied by women. Men working for Trump are earning an average salary of $115,000, whereas women are taking home a smaller average of $72,650.
Despite all of this, Trump seemed to gain a new-found feminism last week and out of nowhere, starting backing the boss bitches. He announced at the G-20 summit in Hamburg that he would pledge a hefty $50 million (£37m) to encourage female entrepreneurs make their mark in the world of business. I know, I had to pinch myself to believe it too. Who would have thought that we’d see the day where Trump finally did something to benefit women, right?
At the G-20, he said: 'When more women participate in the work force — which by the way will be a lot more competition for people like me prior to government, the world economy will grow and millions of people will be lifted out of poverty.'
The funds are going to the World Bank’s fund for the Women’s Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, a programme supported by Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. It aims to raise $1 billion to provide loans and give mentorship and assistance to women owning small businesses around the world, particularly in developing countries.
Even the President’s daughter herself knew that women were seriously lacking the support needed to break through the glass ceiling. In a speech at the G-20, Ivanka said that she was 'surprised' at how little facilities and funding were available to promote female business owners.
She said: 'Study after study shows that investing in women is not only the right thing to do, but it’s also a very strategically prudent thing to do as you think about developing those economies.'
Well, luckily for us girls, Trump’s got us covered! … Or not.
Although some might say there is no relevance between the salary of Trump’s employees and his contribution to female business owners, it sends mixed signals. Is Trump an advocate of equality, or not? So far, I’m not convinced.
Another initiative that provides funding for striving female business owners is H&M’s Foundation 500, which by the end of 2016, reached 100,000 women starting businesses in some of the 'harshest start-up environments in the world'. The programme aims to boost the global economy by $12 trillion as a result of advancement in gender equality.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.