(1984-)

Who Is Eric Trump?

Eric Trump is the second son and third child of former U.S. President and real estate mogul Donald Trump and socialite Ivana Trump. Trump joined the Trump Organization in 2006, and from 2010 to 2015, he also starred as a judge with his father, older brother Donald Trump Jr. and older sister Ivanka Trump on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. After participating in his father’s successful campaign to become U.S. president in 2016, he and older brother Don Jr. were named directors of a trust that holds the family business interests.

Early Years

Eric Frederick Trump grew up in New York City and attended the elite Trinity School until 1995. As a child, he spent much of his free time with his older siblings, Don and Ivanka, rather than his busy parents. The trio also spent most of their childhood summers visiting their maternal grandparents, who had a rustic lifestyle, in Czechoslovakia.

After their parents’ very public divorce in 1991, when Trump was 7 years old, all three children continued to live with their mother Ivana in New York City. They were later sent off to boarding school — Trump joined Don at the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania in 1997.

After graduating from high school, Trump broke with family tradition by matriculating at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. instead of the University of Pennsylvania like his father, brother and sister. When they were home for the summer during their college years, Trump and Don spent time working on their father’s many construction sites, including their own home in Westchester. In 2006, Trump graduated from Georgetown with a degree in finance and management, with honors.

Joining the Trump Organization

Having forged his own path in college, Trump spent some time traveling after graduation. But in 2006, he returned to New York City and joined the Trump Organization in the role of executive vice president, development and acquisitions. He took on the responsibility for broadening the company’s real estate portfolio and expanded the Trump Golf Collection from three properties to 19. In 2012 Forbes recognized Trump among their top “30 under 30” in real estate. Following his father’s successful campaign to become U.S. president in 2016, he and his older brother Donald were also named directors of a trust that holds the family business interests.

In September 2020, Trump was questioned under oath during a video deposition as part of a civil investigation by New York’s attorney general into whether the Trump Organization’s real estate businesses committed fraud.

Winery in Charlottesville

One of these family business interests includes the Trump Winery, where, as its president, “Eric oversees everything from winemaking and marketing to global distribution and sales,” states the Trump Winery website. In August 2017, while deflecting reporters’ questions about whether or not he would visit Charlottesville after the violence that began with clashes at a white nationalist rally, President Trump remarked that he owns a house in Charlottesville — he later clarified that he was referencing the winery.

However, according to a legal disclaimer on its website, Trump Winery is “a registered trade name of Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC, which is not owned, managed or affiliated with Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their affiliates.”

Eric Trump Foundation Controversy

In 2006, at age 23, Trump established the Eric Trump Foundation to raise funds for terminally ill children. Over the following decade, the foundation raised tens of millions of dollars for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, mostly through its golf invitational. Eric explained to Forbes that almost every penny raised goes towards kids dealing with cancer because he doesn’t have to pay to access his family’s golf courses. “We get to use our assets 100% free of charge,” he told Forbes.

However, tax records indicated to the contrary, revealing a substantial amount of charitable contributions were used to pay for the events at his family’s golf venues. As controversy swirled around the foundation, Trump decided to pull away from any further involvement. He stated on his foundation’s site: “Effective December 31, 2016, I have decided to cease all direct fundraising efforts of my foundation. While I resigned with a heavy heart, it was a voluntary decision to enact these measures during the tenure of my father’s presidency in order to avoid the appearance or assertion of any impropriety and/or a conflict of interest.”

Personal Life

In November 2014, Trump married Lara Lea Yunaska at his father’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. His older brother Don served as his best man.

The couple welcomed son Eric “Luke” Trump on September 12, 2017, in New York City. Their second child, daughter Carolina Dorothy, arrived on August 19, 2019.

Trump and his family split their time between their home in Westchester and an apartment in the Trump Parc East building located on Central Park South.

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QUICK FACTS

• Name: Eric Trump
• Birth Year: 1984
• Birth date: January 6, 1984
• Birth State: New York
• Birth City: New York City
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Eric Trump, the second son of former U.S. President Donald Trump, is a businessman and founder of the Eric Trump Foundation.
• Astrological Sign: Capricorn
• Schools
• Trinity School
• Georgetown University
• Nacionalities
• American

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Eric Trump Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/history-culture/eric-trump
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: March 31, 2021
• Original Published Date: November 25, 2017