President Donald Trump is a father of five, and almost all of his children are involved in different businesses as well as in his political career.
Donald Trump Jr. is the eldest of the president’s children whom he had with his first wife Ivana. Trump Jr. graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. The next year, he began working at the Trump Organization, where he currently holds the position of Executive Vice President.
Next, there is Ivanka Trump, Trump’s eldest daughter. Ivanka has been involved in her father’s political career from the start and had an active role in his presidential campaigns preceding both his terms.
Eric Trump is the youngest of Donald and Ivanka’s three children. Just like his older brother, Eric is also serves as an Executive Vice President in the Trump Organization.
Tiffany Trump is the only child Donald Trump had with his second wife, Marla Maples. Unlike her older siblings, Tiffany hasn’t been closely involved in her father’s businesses and politics.
And, of course, there is Barron Trump, the youngest of the siblings and the only son of the president and First Lady Melania Trump.
So, what is Donald Trump like as a father? Over the years, his children has spoken of him as someone who encouraged independence from early age. While he wasn’t typically involved in day-to-day parenting tasks, he focused on ambition and self-reliance, guiding them more by example than by being hands-on in daily parenting. It’s not rarely that he speaks of his children publicly, praising them for their skills and loyalty.
Eric Trump landed a prominent role in his father’s administration after Donald Trump became President. However, Eric’s upbringing wasn’t always smooth, and his bond with his father wasn’t always close. His early years included his parents’ divorce, with his mother gaining custody of him.
Today, Eric plays a major role in the Trump Organization and also focuses on his own family. He has spoken at length about his childhood and what it was like growing up with Donald Trump.
The divorce between Ivana and Donald Trump involved a 13-month legal battle over the financial settlement. Ultimately, Ivana was granted the divorce on the grounds of “cruel and inhumane treatment” and received a $25 million payout, including $10 million in cash. She was also given custody of their three children, while Donald continued to be involved in their lives. At the time, Eric was just eight.
“I maybe never really put two and two together, but that’s probably when we first started getting a little bit of the limelight, some of the attention, and I had to learn to not care,” Eric Trump told Fox.
However, despite the legal battle and the nasty divorce, Eric claimed his mother was in fact very supportive of his father throughout the years.
“What’s most interesting is, if you think about this relationship is, you had two people, they broke up, they went their separate ways, very sloppy divorce covered by everybody around the world,” Eric said in 2020.
“If you ask her about him, she will say he’s the greatest president, and that says a lot coming from an ex-wife, especially in light of a very tough and very public divorce.”
In her memoir Raising Trump, Ivana wrote about the children’s upbringing. According to her, it was her who took care of her kids, but she was also very successful as the CEO of two of Trump’s hotels.
“No matter how busy I was, I had breakfast with my children every day. I sat with them at dinner every night and helped them with their homework (I loved algebra) before going out in a Versace gown to a rubber-chicken charity event,” she wrote.
“The kids and I celebrated, traveled, and grieved together. Our bond was, and is, our most valuable possession.
“I believe the credit for raising such great kids belongs to me. I was in charge of raising our children before our divorce, and I had sole custody of them after the split,” she wrote in her memoir. “When each one finished college, I said to my ex-husband, “Here is the finished product. Now it’s your turn.”
She, however, also wrote of Donald Trump as a father, “Donald might not have been the greatest husband to me, but he was a good father to the kids.
“Obviously, they adore him and are fiercely loyal to him. If he were a horrible dad, that would not be the case. If Donald wants to write a book about fatherhood, I would be happy to read it.”
According to Eric himself, his father was “unconventional”, but “incredible.”
“He was less the ‘Let’s go out in the yard and play ball’ parent, but he was much more the ‘Let’s go walk construction sites of these 70 story towers flying up,” Eric Trump recalled.
“But he was also strict,” he told Fox. “You had to do well in school. Every day I left, I was six years old, he would say ‘no drinking, no drugs, no smoking.’ That’s who he was. He was always so disciplined, but at the same time he gave us enough latitude when we were young professionals to spread our wings a little bit and learn.”
During their childhood, Eric and his siblings, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were “forced” to be competitive.
“We were sort of bred to be competitive,” Ivanka told New York Magazine. “Dad encourages it. I remember skiing with him and we were racing. I was ahead, and he reached his ski pole out and pulled me back.”
Eric added: “He would try to push me over, just so he could beat his 10-year-old son down the mountain.”
Eric Trump was raised in New York City and went to the Trinity School. He was very close to his siblings, and during summers, they often traveled to Czechoslovakia to visit their maternal grandparents.
The three children shared a strong bond growing up, though, like many siblings, they experienced plenty of rivalry and competition.
“We were sort of bred to be competitive,” Ivanka told New York Magazine. “Dad encourages it. I remember skiing with him and we were racing. I was ahead, and he reached his ski pole out and pulled me back.”
Eric added: “He would try to push me over, just so he could beat his 10-year-old son down the mountain.”
After his parents split, Eric stayed with his mother in New York.
As of his career, Eric Trump’s achievements in the Trump Organization didn’t go unnoticed—he was included in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list for real estate in 2012.
Beyond his business work, Eric is also active in philanthropy. He founded The Eric Trump Foundation in 2007, and within a decade, the nonprofit had raised about $16 million to support childhood cancer research at St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Former classmates say of Eric Trump that he is kind, goofy, and down-to-earth, with a talent for woodworking. While some now see him as much like his father, his wife Lara strongly disagrees.
“Unfortunately politics divide a lot of people. I have it in my own life,” Lara said.
“Eric is always going to be a loyal person to his dad and truly believes what his dad is doing for this country. If people don’t agree with him, I can see how they think he’s changed, but Eric hasn’t changed from the guy I met nine and a half years ago, to the guy I married almost three years ago – he’s still the same humble, kind person.”
Eric and Lara tied the knot in 2014 at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. In September of 2017, the couple’s first child, Eric “Luke” Trump, was born. Two years later, they welcomed daughter Carolina Dorothy Trump.
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