Ivanka Trump: Empower Women to Foster Freedom “President Trump will sign a memorandum establishing the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, or W-GDP” this afternoon, Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump writes in The Wall Street Journal. “This initiative aims to help 50 million women in developing countries realize their economic potential by 2025 . . . Expanding women’s economic participation has the potential to boost global economic output by an additional $12 trillion by 2025.” W-GDP has three core pillars: advancing workforce development and vocational training; empowering women as entrepreneurs; and eliminating the legal, regulatory, and cultural barriers that prevent women from participating in their local economies. Click here to read more.

“Leading up to Tuesday night, we heard about the president’s intention to unify a country seldom so divided. So we expected a lot of easy talk about holding hands and trying to get along. This was more than words, at some points becoming an event that included women in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s caucus cheering the president as if they supported him,” The Gazette editorial board writes. Their conclusion: Tuesday night’s State of the Union address “probably ranks high among history’s best.”

“Ivanka Trump is unveiling an effort aimed at helping 50 million women in the developing world get ahead economically over the next six years,” Catherine Lucey reports for The Associated Press. “Ivanka Trump, who will attend the Munich Security Conference next week to promote [W-GDP], stressed that she sees this as a national security priority. ‘We think women are arguably the most under-tapped resource in the developing world for accelerating economic growth and prosperity,’ she told The Associated Press."

David Malpass is a great choice from President Trump for the tough job of leading the World Bank, The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes. “He is an evangelist for pro-growth policies including low taxes, spending control, stable money for the poor as much as for the rich, and the rule of law. This is controversial in some corners of the World Bank, where they measure success not by growth but by how much money gets shoveled out the door.”