It was a straightforward question that any reporter might pose to a father whose son is getting married this weekend. But as usual with Donald Trump, the answer was quite unexpected.
Today, Trump was asked if he plans to attend his son Don Jr.’s wedding this weekend.
You might think this is a question that doesn’t even need to be asked, since what father skips his eldest son’s wedding, even if it’s not Don Jr.’s first one?
“He’d like me to go,” Trump mentioned about his son.
“I said, you know, this is not the best time for me. I have a thing called Iran and other matters.”
A thing called Iran.
His son’s wedding is seen as poorly timed due to the war Trump initiated.
But it gets even more interesting.
Instead of just saying he would try to make it work, Trump quickly turned his son’s wedding into a personal media dilemma. “That’s one I can’t win on,” he stated. “If I go, I get criticized. If I don’t go, I get attacked by the fake news.”
He then caught himself and added: “Of course I’m talking about—” before shifting to describe Don Jr. as “a person who I’ve known for a long time” who will “hopefully have a great marriage.
“
A person he has known for a long time.
That person is his firstborn son.
To sum it up: Trump described his son’s wedding as poorly timed, portrayed it as a no-win situation for himself, referred to Don Jr. as someone he has just known for a while, and blamed Iran—a war his own administration started—for the timing issue.
This is the same man who spent years presenting himself as a devoted family man.
The man whose children have sacrificed careers, marriages, and reputations to support his political goals. Don Jr. has been one of his father’s most vocal and loyal supporters, promoting every conspiracy theory, attacking every opponent, and standing by his father through four criminal charges and two impeachments.
His reward is a father who sees attending his wedding mainly as a problem to manage with the press.
JD Vance has been telling working families that Donald Trump fights for them. Clearly, that doesn’t apply to his own family (except when it comes to dodging future legal issues over tax fraud, which he has passed on to Don Jr.—and his other kids—as a special wedding gift).
“Hopefully they’re going to have a great marriage,” Trump finished, talking about his son and his soon-to-be wife, Bettina Anderson.
Hopefully indeed.
Though Don Jr.’s history with marriage, along with his father’s, doesn’t inspire much confidence.
There’s no update yet on whether Don Jr.’s former girlfriend, Kimberley Guilfoyle, will fly back from Greece for the ceremony, where she was made ambassador as a sort of consolation after being left by the presidential heir.
Maybe Don Jr. should consider moving the wedding from the private island in the Bahamas, where it’s currently set to be held, to one of his father’s golf courses if he wants to guarantee his dad shows up.
After all, that’s where Donald Trump spends nearly every weekend, regardless of the Iran situation.
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