GROWING UP TRUMP

The US president's son Eric on his unorthodox upbringing, being the family's 'clean-up guy' and whether he'll run for the White House

- BY TIM STANLEY

WHAT is it like to be a child of Donald J Trump? Hard work. Surreal. A test of nerves. On 13 July 2024, Eric Trump – the US president's second son - was watching on TV as his father spoke at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Eric was writing an email, his two young children balanced on his knee. At 6.11pm, a sniper opened fire.

"I heard the shots," he tells me. "I've done a lot of competitive shooting, [so] I instantly knew what that sound was. I jumped up – I think my face was probably two inches from the TV screen, trying to see if I could see chest wounds of any sort ... We saw blood on his face and on his hands."

Eric knew "every person on that stage" - many of the Secret Service agents had served on his own detail - and they jumped "on top of a person I love more than anybody".

How did Eric feel?

"Powerless, right? And I don't think Type A [personality] people like to be powerless," he responds.

It's hard to imagine a Trump feeling vulnerable, but Eric's new memoir, Under Siege: My Family's Fight to Save Our Nation, challenges the consensus. He speaks to me over Zoom from his office in Florida, wearing a dark suit paired with a white and blue tie, his blond hair slicked back (I think of Max Zorin in the Bond film A View to a Kill, also bred for success). He is 41 years old and, at 1,95m, was the tallest Trump until Barron - Donald's third son, from his third marriage (to Melania) – came along.

"This word isn't exactly politically correct," he jokes, "but now I'm the family midget because Barron's about 6ft 9in (2,1m)."

Liberals parody Eric as spoilt and stupid, given the reins of the Trump Organization to take the heat off his daddy. He has been subpoenaed 112 times - "The most in American history," he claims.