Trump was invited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, and this year's theme is supporting women entrepreneurs. The State Department puts on the large yearly event, which Secretary of State John Kerry and even President Obama attended multiple times. But this year, according to one senior State Department official: "No one higher than the deputy assistant secretary is allowed to participate. The secretary and his top staff have insisted on approving all travel-- even the most minute details." "They (Tillerson and his staff) won't send someone senior because they don't want to bolster Ivanka.

Source: CNN November 24, 2017 20:15 UTC