Trump Family Dynamics to Be on Full Display at Trial

Donald Trump’s three children are set to take the stand at the the former president’s civil fraud trial in New York, setting up a closer look at the dynamics once at play atop the family business. 

Son Donald Jr. will be the first of three Trump children to take the stand, the Washington Post reported. He’s set to testify on Wednesday, followed by Trump Organization executive vice president Eric on Thursday, Donald himself on Monday and Ivanka next Wednesday.

Prosecutors will likely ask Donald Jr. and Eric about their potential involvement in the alleged inflation of property values on financial statements and loan applications. The defense has argued they weren’t involved in the preparation of such statements.

Ivanka will likely be asked about her involvement in the redevelopment of the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C.

Of the three siblings previously cast as the future of the Trump Organization, Eric is the family’s strongest link to the real estate business. He’s also purported to be the closest of the trio of Trump children to their father, sometimes talking to Donald multiple times a day.

Donald Jr. appears most poised to follow in his father’s political footsteps. He was a surrogate of Donald’s previous campaigns and will likely fill that gap again should the ex-president advance to the 2024 general election.

Former heir apparent Ivanka departed the company to serve in her father’s presidential administration, later saying she would step back from politics n response to the criticism and scrutiny that followed the term and was absent at Donald’s formal reelection announcement last year.

Ivanka’s distance from the business could be the Trump family’s saving grace, should they lose the trial. Despite being named as a defendant initially, the claims against Ivanka were dismissed in June upon appeal after she successfully argued that she wasn’t involved in the case’s relevant transactions.

That might mean Ivanka could run the family business, something Donald, Donald Jr. and Eric would be barred from doing under the case brought by Letitia James. 

— Holden Walter-Warner

Read more