Eric Trump, whose media-training software maybe needs some reprogramming, appeared on “CBS This Morning” on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing feud between his father and the Gold Star Khan family. “Would your father be willing to apologize and move on?” CBS co-host Norah O’Donnell asked him. The answer to this question, obviously, is “no,” but that is not what Eric said.
The Washington Post continues its aggressive reporting on Donald Trump’s charitable contributions, most recently putting the screws to the presumptive Republican nominee’s son, Eric Trump. “It’s disgusting. It is so disgusting what’s happening,” Eric complained last week. “I’m saving dying children. We do tremendous good for people. And you’re sitting there tearing us apart.”
Perhaps in part because it was always going to end like this, and perhaps in part because no one but Chris Christie seems to want the job, Donald Trump’s campaign is now talking about the possibility of Ivanka as Trump’s vice president.
At the height of his pre-election anti-Obama hysteria, bloviating billionaire Donald Trump was reportedly approached by three of his kids and asked to tone down his risky rhetoric.
Yesterday was Eric Trump's 26th birthday. And this is the cake that was presented to him at his birthday party last night. Seriously. Why does it feature a machine gun—a Soviet-made AK-47, no less—and what appears to be a bloody, dead bird? We have no idea. (But if Jared Kushner ever finds himself tempted to cheat on Eric's big sister, it should serve as a handy reminder why that may not be such a hot idea.) Another photo of the cake is below.
• It took a year and a half and three price cuts, but the triplex penthouse at 895 Park that belonged to the late fashion mogul and film producer Charles Evans has gone into contract. The four-bedroom spread, which first went up for sale for $29.5 million in October 2007, had most recently been listed at $15.5 million. [Cityfile, Stribling]
• Mortgage exec Steve Schnall and wife Sherri have dropped the price of their 11,300-square-foot townhouse at 2 North Moore Street, which set a record for Tribeca when it was put up for sale for $35 million a year ago. It's now available for the slightly reduced price of $33 million. [Cityfile, Corcoran]
• Donald Trump's son Eric paid $540,000 for the 14th-floor apartment next door to the one he already owns at 100 Central Park South. [Real Deal]
• Diane Keaton has cut $1 million off the price of her Beverly Hills home, which she originally put on the market in March for $12.995 million. [Luxist, WEA]
There have been very few moments in his life when Donald Trump has not been willing to go on cable television to pontificate on the state of the real estate market. But it's only been a week since Trump's casino empire went bankrupt, so this might just be one of those moments (although given the new season of The Apprentice debuts next week, it's safe to say the shilling will begin again soon enough). But what do you do if Donald won't come on and Don Jr. isn't available and Ivanka Trump can't even be bothered to throw on a cocktail dress and grace Fox Business's classy barroom set with her presence? You turn to Eric Trump, naturally! Sure, he graduated college about 15 minutes ago and wasn't even around for the boom market much less understand the causes of the current real estate crisis. But he's been very well trained, clearly. Take a long, hard look, folks. We have a sinking feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of him over the next, oh, four decades or so.
No wonder the Trump kids seem so screwed up: When asked by Portfolio about some of their childhood memories, Donny Jr. and Eric tell a story about how their dad repeatedly reminded them to "never trust anyone," something Eric says he started hearing on a daily basis beginning at the age of four. (Trump insisted that the rule applied to the boys' own father, too, which come to think of it, was actually pretty solid advice.) Listen to the sad childhood story for yourself after the jump.
You might want to think twice before stopping by Alexis Stewart's apartment uninvited: The daughter of domestic diva Martha Stewart has a permit to keep a loaded gun at home, according to the Post. Other notable locals with gun licenses include David Wright and Carlos Delgado of the Mets, Robert De Niro, billionaire supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis, and Donald Trump. (Two of Trump's sons, Eric and Donald Jr., also have licenses to keep firearms at home; Ivanka Trump's apartment is gun-free.) But it's Alexis, who recently launched a new TV series on the Fine Living channel, who may have the creepiest explanation for why she feels the need to keep a gun in a lockbox in her TriBeCa apartment: She keeps it in case an emergency forces her to abandon the city and she has to euthanize her elderly dogs. "They could never make it out of Manhattan. I could never leave my dogs to die of thirst in my apartment, so I looked on it as a euthanasia situation. I would never kill my pets unless they were going to die anyway."
The Observer has a roundup of New York real estate titans and which political candidates they've been busy handing over cash to in recent weeks. Just in case you were thinking that Donald Trump's endorsement of John McCain last week was merely another opportunity for Donald to worm his way into the spotlight, think again: "The whole adult family—Donald Sr., Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric—has been generous to McCain, giving well over $50,000 to the campaign since May and another $29,000 to the Republican National Committee." [NYO]
♦ Samantha Ronson refused to DJ an event at Rubyfruit, allegedly because she doesn't spin at gay or lesbian bars. Her rep, of course, denies this. [P6]
♦ David Spade didn't turn up at Eric Trump's charity golf tournament in New Jersey last week because he thought it was taking place at Trump's LA course. [P6]
♦ An Atlantic City monsignor wants his name added to the list of Raffaello Follieri's victims. He says he gave the Italian playboy $110,000 because Raffaello said he needed the funds to pay some nuns. [NYDN]
♦ MTV has finally confirmed Whitney Port's Hills spinoff. It will begin airing in early 2009. [E!]
♦ How exciting! Mike Bloomberg will become an honorary citizen of Tbilisi, Georgia tomorrow night. [P6]
One things we learned from BlackBook's interview with "executive/heiress" Ivanka Trump: that one of the causes she's particularly passionate about is her brother Eric's foundation. Who knew The Donald's youngest son from his marriage to Ivana was "dedicated to improving the lives of children battling life-threatening or debilitating medical conditions"? The Eric Trump Foundation has a website, which you can peruse here. A look at the Events section might explain why it was on Ivanka's mind: The foundation's annual golf outing is taking place this afternoon at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester.
There's one group of political donors that rarely receives any credit for their generosity. They don't get invited to any gala dinners or fancy cocktail parties, nor can they expect their checks to earn them any consideration when the next president is thinking about, say, who to appoint the Ambassador to Jamaica. They're the sons and daughters of the ridiculously wealthy, who kindly lend their names/identities to mom and dad so their hyper-political parents can direct even more cash to their favorite candidate. Of course, there's nothing illegal about any of this. Nor is it totally impossible that a 19-year-old college student would decide she'd rather give $4,700 to Hillary Clinton rather than, say, stock up on Juicy tracksuits. (Or Jared Kushner making his first big donation to the Democratic party when he was just 11.) Below, 2008 presidential donations by the children of some of New York's richest and powerful.
Meet the latest member of the Trump family to pervade the airwaves to promote the brand. Here's Eric Trump, the son of Donald and younger brother of Don Jr. and Ivanka, in a vodka ad talking about how he "works all the time," has holes in the bottom of his shoes "from walking over rebar in Ferragamos," why his buddies call him a "Fifth Avenue redneck," and why he likes conservative girls who don't wear short skirts. Possibly the creepiest line ever (and one no doubt crafted by his father): "If New York was a woman, I would have to say it would be my sister, and while that might sound a little strange..." Say no more, Eric.
