Donald Trump said Thursday he may skip Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding to Bettina Anderson, saying the private ceremony in the Bahamas over Memorial Day weekend clashes with his own schedule and national security concerns. “He’d like me to go, but it’s going to be just a small little private affair, and I’m going to try and make it,” Trump said.
But he quickly added that the timing was difficult. “You know, this is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things,” he said, while making clear he was not committing either way. “That’s one I can’t win on,” Trump said. “If I do attend, I get killed. If I don’t attend, I get killed – by the fake news, of course, I’m talking about.”
The wedding would mark another family milestone for Donald Trump Jr., 48, whose latest fiancee is Anderson, a 39-year-old socialite and model from a prominent banking family in Palm Beach. The two made their debut public appearance as a couple at Trump’s inauguration in January last year, after Trump Jr. ended his relationship with Kimberly Guilfoyle in 2024. Trump Jr. got engaged to Guilfoyle in 2020.
Trump has a history of showing up for major family weddings, including Trump Jr.'s first wedding to Vanessa Haydon in 2005 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where Maryanne Trump Barry officiated. That marriage produced five children. He was also very present at Ivanka Trump's wedding to Jared Kushner in 2009 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and later wrote that “Ivanka and Jared’s wedding was spectacular, and they make a beautiful couple.”
Still, Trump said this one is complicated by both timing and politics. Asked whether he would attend, he said, “No, but he’s got a very – a person who I’ve known for a long time, and hopefully they’re going to have a great marriage.” Then he added of his own role in the family, “I’m a very proud father.”
For now, the decision appears to hinge on whether he can fit the trip into a stretch that already includes Iran-related concerns and a packed public schedule. Trump has recently attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Miami, a PGA Tour championship at his golf club in Doral, Florida, and several rounds of golf, suggesting he has made time for other outings even as he weighs whether to appear at his son’s wedding.
