Ivanka Trump said that “there is a global humanitarian crisis that's happening, and we have to come together, and we have to solve it“ while her father President Donald Trump argues that refugees could be a national security risk. | AP Photo Ivanka Trump: Allowing Syrian refugees into the U.S. 'has to be part of the discussion'

Assistant to the president and first daughter Ivanka Trump said allowing Syrian refugees into the U.S. “has to be part of the discussion” of how best to help those fleeing Islamic State militants and Syria’s long-running civil war.

Trump’s remarks, which aired Wednesday on NBC’s “Today” show, marked a break from the policies put in place by her father, President Donald Trump, who has signed multiple iterations of an executive order that places an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees entering the U.S.


The president has argued that such refugees represent a national security threat because they provide easy camouflage for terrorists seeking to enter the U.S. But in her NBC interview, Ivanka Trump said allowing refugees into the U.S. should be a component of a larger plan to address the situation in Syria.

“I think there is a global humanitarian crisis that's happening, and we have to come together, and we have to solve it,” Ivanka Trump told NBC News reporter Hallie Jackson.

“Does that include opening the border to Syrian refugees in the U.S.?” Jackson replied.

“That has to be part of the discussion, but that's not going to be enough in and of itself,” the first daughter responded.

While the president has been unwilling to allow Syrian refugees into the U.S., he has called for the creation of safe zones and earlier this month, launched a cruise missile strike against Syria’s military in response to a chemical weapon attack in a rebel-controlled region of the country. Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons who controls the family’s vast business empire, said that it was his sister Ivanka Trump who had used her influence to help compel the president to launch the strikes.

“Ivanka is a mother of three kids and she has influence. I’m sure she said: ‘Listen, this is horrible stuff,’" Eric Trump said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

In an interview with reporters on Tuesday, Ivanka Trump said her brother had offered a “flawed interpretation” of how the missile strike decision was reached, although she did say that she offered her opinion, which matched that of her father’s, on the issue.