Donald Trump Jr.

Donald Trump Jr. is the former president’s eldest son and namesake. “Of all the president’s children, he has the strongest connection to the politics, voters and online disinformation ecosystem that put his father in the White House,” one outlet reported. Trump Jr. was involved in Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He is also an executive vice president of the Trump Organization.

Before the 2020 election was called, Trump Jr. sent Mark Meadows a text describing “multiple paths” to secure a second term for his father, including filing lawsuits, pressing for recounts to keep swing states from certifying their results, and putting forth what were fake, that is not legitimate, electors. In reference to a potential congressional intervention on January 6, 2021, he asserted, “We control them all.” Trump Jr. was one of the loudest voices in the following months promoting disproven voter fraud conspiracy theories.

On January 6, 2021, Trump Jr. was seen backstage with his father just before the speech at the White House Ellipse that led to the violent and deadly insurrection. Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former FOX host and Trump fundraiser who is engaged to Trump Jr. bragged about raising $3 million for that rally.

As revealed by the House committee investigating January 6, Trump Jr. begged Mark Meadows to get his dad to condemn the riot, in what appeared to be an attempt to preserve his father’s legacy. However, this year, on January 6, Trump Jr. posted to X, “Happy Fake Insurrection Day!!! The first ever insurrection with armed tour guides and unarmed participants! I do hope that it was the start of something real though, where people realize that their government is not what they thought it to be unite to take back their country!!!”

Back in 2016, Trump Jr. eagerly responded to an offer for damaging information on Hillary Clinton from one of his father’s former Russian business partners who had informed Trump he was in contact with a senior Russian government official on the matter. Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner then met with the former partner and her associates in what was “the first confirmed private meeting between a Russian national and members of Mr. Trump’s inner circle during the campaign,” according to the New York Times. A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report later showed the Russians had “significant connections to the Russian government, including the Russian intelligence services.” Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney at the time, claimed to a Senate panel that “Mr. Trump was very quick to tell everybody that he thinks Don Jr. has the worst judgment of anyone he’s ever met in the world.” Trump Jr. repeatedly spread lies about the situation.

After his father was convicted on 34 counts related to falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election, Trump Jr. promised a GOP retaliation, claiming, “I wish that wasn’t the case, but we don’t have a choice.” He also called FOX’s Shannon Bream “a f*cking dolt” for asking “How do you know it’s a political thing?” in reference to his father being convicted by a jury of numerous felonies. Trump Jr. even compared the indictments to the Japanese internment camps of WWII. More recently, he praised the ruling passed down by the U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing faction that his father helped install on the court, which granted presidents absolute immunity for “official acts.” He previously tried to influence Republican state attorneys general to remove Biden from their ballots for so-called “bribery schemes.”

Trump Jr. spent the 2018 midterms campaigning for Republican congressional candidates like Matt Gaetz (FL). By 2020, Trump Jr. had reportedly “become one of the Republican Party’s top virtual fund-raisers” with his social media accounts acting as “vital cogs in the Republican messaging machine.” One Trump adviser said, “It could be fairly argued that Don Jr. and his political team have a better rapid-response operation than the White House communications office has ever had.”

After the end of Donald Trump’s presidential term, Trump Jr. launched “Winning Team Publishing,” which platforms MAGA extremists like Charlie Kirk and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

Earlier this year, Axios described Trump Jr. and his brother Eric Trump as “loyalty czars” who were working on planning a potential second Trump transition team. Trump Jr., who told the New York Post he would be “very active” in a transition “Mostly just to make sure [they] stop some of the D.C. swamp rats and the swamp creatures from getting in there and doing their thing.” He proposed reinstalling Trump administration veterans like John Ratcliffe and Cliff Sims. He also recently called for “abolish[ing]” numerous federal agencies, declaring “I’d start with the FBI. I’d start with the CIA. I’d start with the IRS. There’s a lot of, you know, the DEA…”

Trump Jr.’s rhetoric is often compared to his father’s. He has repeatedly attacked LGBTQ+ Americans, and even equated trans activism with violence. He also promoted the “great replacement” conspiracy theory and referred to immigrants as “dependents” who “dilute” the American population. On top of fear mongering about immigration, he has contributed to the right’s vilification of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives while uplifting white supremacists and QAnon supporters.

In 2021, Trump Jr. was a person of interest in the D.C. Attorney General’s investigation into the misuse of more than $1 million of then-President Trump’s inaugural funds. Much of the funds were used in “grossly overpaying” the Trump Hotel for an event space rental, but the investigation also revealed Trump Jr.’s involvement in “improperly wast[ing]” almost $50,000 in a payment to the Loews Madison. Trump Jr.’s assistant made the bookings and Gentry Beach, Trump Jr.’s friend and a campaign donor who he once failed to disclose former business ties with, executed the contract on behalf of the Trump Organization.

For the Trump Organization, Trump Jr. has overseen numerous domestic and international development or branding projects. During his father’s civil business fraud trial last year, Trump Jr. denied any involvement in the overstatement of Trump Sr.’s wealth to banks and insurers, despite being a top executive of the Trump Organization and a trustee of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Trump Jr. was found liable for fraud alongside his father and his brother Eric.

Trump Jr.’s dealings with the family business brought him legal troubles before. In 2012, he came close to being charged with felony fraud by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for coordinating lies about inflated sales numbers to mislead potential buyers of Trump SoHo. His father’s personal lawyer, separate from Trump Jr.’s representation, bypassed the lower level prosecutors on the case, and asked the Manhattan District Attorney to drop the case.