This tweet proves Ivanka — now one of her father's top advisers — hasn't yet distanced herself from her brand to avoid conflicts of interest.

Trump's statement is also problematic because he's

the most powerful man in the country, and he's using his platform to bully a private company on behalf of his child — and on taxpayers' dimes, no less.

As several reporters

have pointed out, not only did Trump's official @POTUS account — a taxpayer-funded account — retweet his attack on Nordstrom... 

...But Trump appears to have posted the tweet when he was scheduled to be in an intelligence briefing. 

That means Trump either chose to ignore the briefing to send the

tweet about his daughter's business ventures, or one of his staffers sent the tweet for him. 

Since Trump's staffers are paid by U.S. taxpayers, one could make the argument

that Trump is using taxpayer dollars to back his family's businesses. 

At a press conference later Wednesday, White House Communications Director Sean Spicer said Trump was "free" and not in a security briefing when he sent the tweet (though his official

schedule said otherwise).

Spicer also explained that Trump's tweet "was less about his family business and an attack on his daughter."

"He has every right to stand up for his family and

applaud their business activities, their success," Spicer said, later adding that "for someone to take out their concern with his policies on a family member of his is just not acceptable."