Trump shields Ivanka over email row

United States President Donald Trump came out in defence of his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka after The Washington Post reported that she used a personal email account to discuss government business.

Defending his daughter, Trump said that Ivanka used the personal email during the start of the administration in accordance with records retention laws, reported CNN. "The Presidential Record, they're all in the Presidential Record. There was no hiding," he said.

The Presidential Records Act requires all official White House communications and records be preserved.

According to emails released by a nonpartisan watchdog group, Ivanka used a personal email account to discuss or relay official White House business last year. The claims were investigated by The Washington Post which reported that Ivanka used her personal email address for the most part of 2017.

Trump, who during his 2016 presidential campaign had criticised former secretary Hillary Clinton for a similar practice, said that his daughter did not delete any emails like Clinton.

"They weren't classified like Hillary Clinton. They weren't deleted like Hillary Clinton," Trump said.

Talking about Clinton's email scrutiny, Trump said, "You're talking about a whole different -- you're talking about all fake news. There was no deletion, there was no nothing. Hillary Clinton deleted 33,000 emails. She had a server in the basement. That's the real story."

According to CNN, the 33,000 emails Clinton deleted were personal in nature.