Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico and a former U.S. emissary to North Korea, was not pleased to see Ivanka Trump accompanying her father to the G-20 summit.
"I think what is disturbing is that he doesn’t have seasoned diplomats like Ambassador Bill Burns briefing him," Richardson told CNN on Monday.
"The president is obviously very comfortable with the Saudi leader, with Vladimir Putin, with Kim Jong-un. And what about our allies? What about Macron and the European Union and Germany, that could try to help us navigate through the situation with Iran.
"I don’t like Iran. I wish they would stop helping terrorists in Syria and Yemen. But I think this nuclear deal -- we never should have pulled out. Iran was complying and now they’re pulling out and where do we go from here?" Richardson continued.
"So he needed -- President Trump needs seasoned diplomats, great diplomats like Bill Burns, but I don’t know who he’s relying on. Maybe his daughter now. I saw her all over the G-20 talking to world leaders. I want him to listen to professionals that know what’s going on."
Burns, for his part, said it was not unusual for presidents to have informal advisors.
"But it seems to me that has to be balanced with a reliance on professionals, whether they’re diplomats or people like Governor Richardson, who are very well versed in diplomacy," he added. "When you fail to do that, I think you set yourself up for a lot of problems."