Ivanka Trump to visit Iowa Monday to discuss workforce, infrastructure

First Daughter and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump will appear in Iowa with Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday to discuss one of the governor’s top issues: workforce development and high-tech education.

Trump, who officially serves as assistant to the president, will tour the Waukee Innovation & Learning Center and learn about the Waukee School District’s experiential learning program in which students work directly with local businesses.

It’s part of a larger effort by Trump to advance the administration’s infrastructure plan, which includes several measures aimed at improving federal workforce training and development programs.

“Workforce development is a critical part of our infrastructure proposal that the White House sent to Congress,” Trump said in a conference call with reporters on Friday.

Improving worker training opportunities and encouraging students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math has been a primary focus for Reynolds for the last several years, and is key to her campaign message as she runs for election to a full term this year.

Trump praised Reynolds’ efforts as she described her visit on Monday.

“Over the past year, Gov. Reynolds and I have worked closely on a number of workforce development initiatives,” Trump said. “Gov. Reynolds serves on the task force for apprenticeship expansion and remains an important voice in discussions to increase K-12 STEM and computer science education nationwide.”

The two have worked together on such issues over the last year, including during a meeting in Washington, D.C., last December after which Reynolds tweeted that they had discussed the Waukee program among other such work-based learning programs around the state.

Last September, Reynolds joined Ivanka Trump in announcing a White House computer science education initiative.

“We’re pleased to host Ivanka Trump to discuss our state’s leadership position in STEM and work-based learning,” Reynolds said in a statement on Friday. “Iowa is ahead of the curve for educating our children for the knowledge economy. A great example is Waukee APEX, which is a national model for schools of the future.”

Ivanka Trump is the latest of several high-profile administration officials to visit Iowa over the last year. Vice President Mike Pence was in Council Bluffs last week and in Boone last June, while U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has already made several trips to the state.

President Donald Trump toured a community college and held a campaign-style rally in Cedar Rapids last June.