Donald Jr, his dad’s ambitious “room driver” – L’Express

In the Trump family, we knew the father. But the rising political star is the son. Donald Junior has started again, as in 2020, to travel the country to mobilize the Trumpist base. He adopted the same populist discourse, the same incendiary rhetoric, the same conspiracy theories as his father. But he’s a better speaker. This smiling, bearded 46-year-old avoids the stringy digressions of Donald Trump and handles attacks and provocations with humor, as we were able to verify in Iowa at the beginning of January. There, just before the caucuses won by his father with 51% of the vote, he multiplied his interventions to attack pell-mell Hunter Biden (the son of), Nikki Haley – “who knows nothing about airplanes but sits on the board of Boeing administration” – and, more generally, “the elite who live in a parallel world”.

Author of First Dads, a book on “dad presidents”, Joshua Kendall deciphers: “The president’s children often work discreetly behind the scenes in campaigns. Don Jr. plays the role of aggressive pit bull. He is sometimes more Trump than Trump, he will further than him in his statements.” For example, he suggested in a tweet that Joe Biden was a pedophile, he called for “total war” against rigged elections…

The elder Trump took time to find his way. After a period of rebellion against his father, he falls in line to join the family real estate group. In 2016, he was confined to marginal tasks in the presidential campaign. But he suddenly comes to the fore when we learn that he organized a meeting with Russians supposedly in possession of sulphurous revelations about candidate Hillary Clinton. This scandal triggers an investigation into the Trump team’s collusion with Moscow and reinforces his father’s low opinion of him. He protested when Ivana, his wife at the time, suggested giving the baby the name Donald Jr. “What if he’s a loser?” he had worried.

Once in the White House, Donald Trump surrounds himself with Ivanka, his daughter, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. “Don” and Eric, his younger brother, are responsible for managing the family group. But Don Jr. discovers a political talent. This great hunting and fishing enthusiast knows how to appeal to both rural voters and Florida millionaires.

Don Jr, the heir?

“He has a strong presence on stage, he knows how to ignite crowds, speak to them in Trumpist language. Everywhere, he draws full houses,” comments Brian Seitchik, a former consultant to Trump’s team. Often accompanied by Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News journalist for whom he divorced, Don Jr. became one of the most popular conservative personalities in the country and has nearly 11 million fans on X (formerly Twitter).

This father of five is predicted to have a brilliant career as an elected official or talk show host. Oddly enough, perhaps because the role of provocateur is less demanding or because dad doesn’t appreciate being overshadowed, Don Jr. makes do with podcasts and publishes two pamphlet books against left-wing elites. Their sales soared thanks to the purchase by the Republican Party and other organizations of thousands of copies which were distributed to lucky donors.

These days, Don Jr. is seen as a political heir, due to lack of competition. Ivanka and Jared Kushner, who left Washington for Miami, have distanced themselves. In 2022, when Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president, his daughter released a statement the same day: “I love my father very much. But for now, I choose to put my young children first… and don’t plan on being involved in politics.”

Jared Kushner created an investment fund which notably received $2 billion from Saudi Arabia. The couple, according to rumor, however, goes out a little more in town, a sign that they could be back in action. In December, he visited Israel to visit the site of the Hamas attack and met with various figures.

Because the family’s finances risk depending more and more on its political success. The Trump Organization has just been found guilty of fraudulently inflating its assets. The prosecutor requested a $370 million fine and a lifetime ban on Donald Trump (and five years for his two sons) from getting involved in real estate in New York.

We are awaiting the judge’s decision. As for Don Jr., some already see him as a candidate for the 2028 presidential election. A new Trump in the White House? At a meeting in Iowa in early January, the person was asked by a member of the audience if he was considering running in 2028. He did not completely rule out this possibility.