Exclusive: Ivanka Trump plans new focus on access to fresh produce
Ivanka Trump on Thursday will announce a new focus on access to fresh produce and healthy food, as part of growing national attention to "the role of nutrition in chronic disease and overall well-being," according to a preview provided to Axios.
Why it matters: Ivanka Trump, a West Wing official during her father's first term, has mostly stayed out of the spotlight during Trump 2.0. Thursday's appearance marks her return to the national conversation, using her celebrity to spotlight an urgent policy issue.
During a fireside chat on Thursday at the Heartland Summit in Bentonville, Arkansas, President Trump's oldest daughter will discuss how "private-sector solutions and whole-harvest sourcing are helping expand access to fresh food, support farmers, reduce waste and drive lasting impact across communities," according to the preview.
She'll be interviewed onstage by Arianna Huffington — founder and CEO of Thrive Global — who tells Axios that Ivanka Trump's "decision to focus on democratizing access to healthy food comes at an unprecedented moment in our country's healthcare journey, where we're finally recognizing the scale of the crisis in chronic diseases."
Ivanka Trump is a co-founder of Planet Harvest, a " profit-for-purpose" company she started with her friend Melissa Melshenker Ackerman, a produce supply-chain expert who is the company's co-founder and CEO.
"We launched Planet Harvest to reimagine how American produce moves— not just through the supply chain, but across communities," Ivanka Trump said in a statement to Axios.
"By connecting fresh and surplus harvests with those who can benefit from them, we're supporting farmers, reducing food waste, expanding access and using good nutrition to improve health."
Driving the news: Ivanka Trump is in Bentonville for Thursday's Heartland Summit, an annual event that showcases Northwest Arkansas as a hub of growth and innovation. The summit was co-founded by Walmart heirs Olivia Walton, Tom Walton and Steuart Walton.
Philanthropist Alice Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, has made health care a signature issue, along with the arts.
The summit is hosted by Heartland Forward — a think tank, based in Bentonville, that focuses on the 20 states in the middle of the country.
The big picture: Make America Healthy Again, a movement led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has become a signature issue of the Trump administration and the MAGA base.
Former first lady Michelle Obama, through her Let's Move! initiative, promoted healthier foods for schools to help reduce childhood obesity, and access to healthy, affordable food for families.
Zoom in: Planet Harvest says it uses "real-time data and smart logistics to match the right produce with the right buyer at the right time," and "collaborates with food manufacturers to turn surplus crops into innovative products — such as dried, no-sugar-added cherries."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tulsi Gabbard Flips Sides in MAGA Civil War Over Iran's Nuclear Capabilities
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has flipped her stance on Iran after President Donald Trump nuked her intelligence as 'wrong.' Gabbard told the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 25 that there was no intelligence to suggest Iran was building nuclear weapons, though the country had enriched its uranium to higher levels. Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's June 12 'preemptive' strike on Iran—which he justified by saying that the country has a 'secret plan' to weaponize uranium—Trump sided with Israel's countervailing position. On two separate occasions this week, Trump rebuffed Gabbard's earlier assessment of Iran's nuclear program. 'I don't care what [Gabbard] said,' Trump said aboard Air Force One. 'I think they were very close to having one.' In another comment on Wednesday, the president added that Iran was 'a few weeks' away from turning their uranium into a weapon, echoing similar sentiments shared by Netanyahu. Then on Friday, Gabbard fell in line with Trump, attacking the media for having the gall to believe what she said. 'The dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context and spreading fake news as a way to manufacture division,' Gabbard wrote to her 600K followers. 'America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly.' She added, 'President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree.' Gabbard included a clip of what she called her 'full testimony,' which has since racked up 8.9 million views. The world has been thrown into a state of limbo while Trump weighs a decision on whether to get the United States involved in strikes on Iran, a decision the country warned would be 'very dangerous.' In a statement read on Thursday by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump said he would make his decision 'within the next two weeks' based on the fact that there 'is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.' Reuters reported that the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with a group of European diplomats in Geneva on Friday for nuclear talks.
Newsweek
43 minutes ago
- Newsweek
US B-2 Stealth Bombers on the Move Across Pacific
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. As the fighting between Israel and Iran continues, six B-2 stealth bombers departed Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and are en route to Guam, according to U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News and flight tracking data analyzed by multiple news outlets. Newsweek reached out the Pentagon's Defense Press Operations office and the White House via email on Saturday for comment. NITRO KC135s returning to Altus AFB, OK B2s MYTEE11 FLT & MYTEE21 FLT continuing westbound to destination Andersen AFB, Guam. — Aircraft Spots (@AircraftSpots) June 21, 2025 Why It Matters This month, the conflict between Israel and Iran has escalated dramatically, with President Donald Trump calling for the evacuation of Tehran, Iran's capital city home to over 9.5 million people. Israel initially struck Tehran and several other cities in "Operation Rising Lion," a campaign it said was meant to preempt a planned Iranian attack and disrupt Iran's nuclear capabilities. Iran, which has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, has since retaliated, though Israeli defense systems—bolstered by U.S. military technology—have intercepted about 99 percent of incoming missile fire, according to Israeli officials on Saturday morning in an X, formerly Twitter, post. Iran hit a hospital in southern Israel on Thursday, and local reports noted that buildings in Tel Aviv were on fire from Iranian missiles on Friday. Israel's strikes have killed at least 585 people in Iran—including 239 civilians—and wounded another 1,300, according to a human rights group that has long tracked the country, Washington-based Human Rights Activists. Iran's government has not offered overall casualty figures. Israel has said 24 people have been killed since Friday and 500 more have been wounded, according to Israeli officials. The U.S. is Israel's closest ally, providing billions of dollars in military aid annually. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Iran disintegrated, and the two countries have held strained, distrusting relations over the past four-decades. Iran's nuclear program has long been a focal point of U.S. and Israeli concern, with Iran insisting its efforts are solely for energy purposes. The second Trump administration had been involved in talks with Iran ahead of the conflict, although no formal diplomacy has come out of it. During his first presidency, Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran Nuclear Deal. B-2s and Bunker-Buster Bombs The B-2 can carry two 15-ton bunker-buster bombs—which only the U.S. possesses, making these aircraft critical to any potential operation against Iran's most fortified nuclear sites. Officials and experts have suggested that the U.S.'s 30,000-pound (13,000kg) bunker-buster bomb is the only weapon capable of destroying the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, a facility believed to be central to Tehran's nuclear program and carved deep into a mountain. The movement signals the U.S. may be positioning military assets to provide Trump with operational options as the Israel-Iran conflict intensifies. A B-2 Stealth Bomber opens the 135th Rose Parade Presented by Honda on January 1, 2024, in Pasadena, California. A B-2 Stealth Bomber opens the 135th Rose Parade Presented by Honda on January 1, 2024, in Pasadena, To Know The bombers apparently refueled after launching from Missouri, suggesting they launched without full fuel tanks due to a heavy onboard payload, which could potentially be bunker-buster bombs. The deployment comes as Trump prepares to meet with his national security team to discuss potential U.S. involvement in Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. According to The New York Times, air traffic control communications showed the B-2 aircraft taking off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Iran's most advanced and hardened nuclear facility, the Fordow plant in the country's northwest, is a fortress. Built inside a mountain some 300 feet underground and reinforced by layers of concrete, the plant, which is the most likely target of a potential American strike, is impenetrable by any bomb except the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). The B-2 Spirit, a U.S. stealth bomber, is currently the only aircraft designed to deploy the GBU-57 and can carry two bunker buster bombs at a time. Military experts note that destroying such fortified targets would likely require multiple precision strikes at the exact same location. Earlier on Saturday, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against missile sites and a nuclear facility in Iran, while Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles and launched drones into Israel. What People Are Saying Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard wrote on X on Friday: "America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree." President Donald Trump earlier this week wrote on Truth Social: "We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a national address, in part: "We warn America of the consequences of engaging in war, because it will suffer severe damage if it decides to do so. War is met with war, bombing with bombing, and strike with strike." Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on X on Wednesday: "Iran solely acts in self-defense. Even in the face of the most outrageous aggression against our people, Iran has so far only retaliated against the Israeli regime and not those who are aiding and abetting it. Just like Netanyahu manufactured this war to destroy diplomacy, the world should be highly alarmed about increasing attempts by the failing Israeli regime to get others to bail it out and to expand the flames to the region and beyond." What Happens Next Trump will make a decision on whether to have the U.S. join Israel's war with Iran "within the next two weeks," according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told reporters Thursday that the decision is based on Trump's view of whether Iran "may" or "may not" agree to a diplomatic resolution through negotiations over its nuclear program. The president is expected to receive intelligence briefings with the National Security Council (NSC) over the weekend as he considers possible actions against Iran.
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Belarus frees dissident Siarhei Tsikhanouski and 13 others after a rare visit from top US envoy
Advertisement 'My husband is free. It's difficult to describe the joy in my heart,' Tsikhanouskaya told reporters. But she added her team's work is 'not finished' while over 1,100 political prisoners remain behind bars in Belarus. Tsikhanouski, known for his anti-Lukashenko slogan 'stop the cockroach,' was jailed after announcing plans to challenge the strongman in the 2020 election. Following his arrest, his wife ran in his stead, rallying large crowds across the country. Official results of the election handed Lukashenko his sixth term in office but were denounced by the opposition and the West as a sham. Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets in the aftermath of the August 2020 vote, in the largest protests in the country's history. In the ensuing crackdown, more than 35,000 people were detained, with many beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures either fled the country or were imprisoned. Tsikhanouski was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison on charges of organizing mass riots. Advertisement Lukashenko has since extended his rule for a seventh term following a January 2025 election that the opposition called a farce. Since July 2024, he has pardoned nearly 300 people, including imprisoned U.S. citizens, seeking to mend ties with the West. At the meeting in Minsk, Lukashenko hugged and warmly welcomed Kellogg and the American delegation to his residence. 'I really hope that our conversation will be very sincere and open. Otherwise, what is the point of meeting? If we are clever and cunning in front of each other, we will not achieve results,' Lukashenko said. 'You have made a lot of noise in the world with your arrival.' Lukashenko's press secretary, Natalya Eismont, told Russian state media hours later that he freed the 14 prisoners following a request from U.S. President Donald Trump. It was not immediately clear whether Kellogg's visit might pave the way for the lifting of some U.S. sanctions against Minsk, imposed over the brutal crackdown against the 2020 protests and Lukashenko's support of Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine. 'Lukashenko is clearly trying to get out of international isolation, and the release of such a large group of political prisoners signals a desire to start a dialogue with the U.S. in order to soften international sanctions,' Belarusian political analyst Valery Karbalevich told The Associated Press. 'After five years, Lukashenko is trying to loosen the knot with which the Kremlin tied him, using him for the war against Ukraine,' Karbalevich said. Advertisement Belarus has allowed the Kremlin to use its territory to send troops and weapons into Ukraine, and also to station its forces and nuclear weapons there. Many other prominent dissidents still languish in Belarusian jails, among them Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, a human rights advocate serving a 10-year prison sentence on charges widely denounced as politically motivated. Bialiatski, founder of Viasna, Belarus' oldest and most prominent rights group, was arrested in 2021 during raids by the country's main security agency that still goes by its Soviet-era name, the KGB. In March 2023, he was convicted on charges of smuggling and financing actions that 'grossly violated public order,' and sentenced to 10 years. Authorities labeled him especially dangerous because of alleged 'extremist' tendencies. He, his family and supporters say the charges against him are politically motivated, and a U.N. panel of human rights experts called on Belarus to release him. In 2022, when Bialiatski was behind bars, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with the prominent Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties. Bialiatski has been serving his sentence at a penal colony for repeat offenders in the city of Gorki. The facility is notorious for beatings and hard labor. Bialiatski's wife warned last year about his deteriorating health, saying the 62-year-old battles multiple chronic illnesses. Also behind bars is Viktor Babaryka, a former banker who was widely seen in 2020 as Lukashenko's main electoral rival, and Maria Kolesnikova, a close ally of Tsikhanouskaya and charismatic leader of that year's mass protests. With her close-cropped hair and trademark gesture of forming her hands into the shape of a heart, Kolesnikova became an even greater symbol of resistance when Belarusian authorities tried to deport her. She responded by tearing up her passport at the border and walking back into Belarus. Advertisement Released alongside Tsikhanouski was longtime Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty correspondent Ihar Karnei, the U.S. government-funded broadcaster confirmed. Karnei, who had also worked with prominent Belarusian and Russian newspapers, had been serving a three-year service on extremism charges he rejected as a sham. 'The release was a big surprise for me,' Karnei told AP in a phone interview Saturday. 'I didn't believe it until the very end, but now I understand that other political prisoners deserve the same.' He said that he spent about six months in solitary confinement. 'Most people suffer simply for their beliefs and do not deserve these terrible conditions and terms,' Karnei said. RFE/RL's Belarusian service had been designated extremist in the country, a common label handed to anyone who criticizes Lukashenko's government. As a result, working for it or spreading its content has become a criminal offense. 'We are deeply grateful to President Trump for securing the release of this brave journalist, who suffered at the hands of the Belarusian authorities,' the broadcaster's CEO Stephen Capus said Saturday in a press release. Karnei was detained several times while covering the 2020 protests. Unlike many of his colleagues, he chose to stay in Belarus despite the ensuing repression. He was arrested again in July 2023, as police raided his apartment seizing phones and computers. The group Reporters Without Borders says Belarus is Europe's leading jailer of journalists. At least 40 are serving long prison sentences, according to the independent Belarusian Association of Journalists. Many face beatings, poor medical care and the inability to contact lawyers or relatives, according to activists and former inmates. Advertisement Belarus also freed an Estonian national who had set up an NGO to raise funds for Belarusian refugees. According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, Allan Roio was detained last January, and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison on charges of establishing an extremist organization.
