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Ivanka Trump skirted coronavirus guidelines to travel to N.J. for Passover

The president's daughter has promoted staying at home during the pandemic.
Image: Senior Advisor to the President, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump, walk with their children at the Ellipse in President's Park near the White House
Jared Kushner, senior adviser to the president, and Ivanka Trump walk with their children at the ellipse in President's Park near the White House on Nov. 30, 2017.Jim Watson / AFP - Getty Images file

WASHINGTON — Ivanka Trump and her family traveled to the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey last week to celebrate Passover despite federal guidelines that advise against nonessential travel and a stay-at-home order is in effect in Washington, D.C., according to The New York Times.

The president's eldest daughter went with her husband, Trump adviser Jared Kushner, and their three young children, to the Trump golf club in Bedminster, two people with knowledge of their travel plans told the Times, which reported on them Wednesday night. The family lives in Washington's Kalorama neighborhood in the northwest part of the city.

The sources told the Times that Ivanka has remained in Bedminster to work remotely from there to take calls and spend time with their kids. Her husband, meanwhile, traveled back to the White House.

Asked for comment, a White House official told NBC News on Thursday that the facility that Ivanka and her family went to was closed down and the trip itself no different than if she had been traveling to work.

"Ivanka — with her immediate family — celebrated Passover at a closed down facility considered to be a family home," the official said. "Her travel was no different than had she been traveling to/from work and the location was less populated than the surrounding area near her home in D.C. While at Bedminster she has been practicing social distancing and working remotely. Her travel was not commercial. She chose to spend a holiday in private with her family."

Ivanka tweeted on the first night of Passover on April 8, as Jewish self-isolated families around the world conducted seders over video calls, that people were gathering without precedent. "The group might be smaller, and the answer to 'why is this night different' might be unusual. But all across the world we shall sing our songs of freedom and together celebrate renewal. #TogetherApart #ChagSameach."

Ivanka has advocated that people follow the federal government's guidelines amid the crisis. Earlier this week, she posted a photo with one of her children on Instagram showing them both wearing homemade masks.

She participated in at least two calls remotely Wednesday with business leaders the president is consulting with to reopen the U.S. economy, the Times report said.

On April 1, a stay-at-home order issued by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser took effect, which specifically says that residents may only leave their homes to engage in essential travel.