President Trump told reporters Thursday that while he is “going to try” to attend the wedding of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., this weekend, it is “not good timing for me.”
According to news reports, Donald Jr. is expected to marry Bettina Anderson over Memorial Day Weekend on a private island in the Bahamas. While taking questions in the Oval Office Thursday, Trump was asked if he plans to attend the ceremony, which the president described as a “small, little private affair.”
“He’d like me to go … I’m going to try and make it,” Trump relayed. “I said, you know this is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things.”
Trump also grumbled that his son’s nuptials is an issue he “can’t win on” with the media. “If I do attend, I get killed. If I don’t attend, I get killed, by the fake news, of course.”
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Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, Bettina Anderson, attended a celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday on the National Mall in Washington, on June 14, 2025.DOUG MILLS/NYT
According to Page Six, Donald Jr. and Anderson were originally eyeing a wedding at the White House, but opted for something more private due to the war in Iran. A source told the outlet that the couple is “very aware that a lavish wedding at the White House while people are dying wouldn’t be well-received.”
The president is expected to spend the holiday weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., according to a notification from the Federal Aviation Administration.
In the 11 weeks since the US launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28, Trump has visited one of his golf clubs on nine different weekends, according to the White House’s public calendar. This past weekend, Trump visited his National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., on both Saturday and Sunday.
Kaitlin Lewis can be reached at Kaitlin.Lewis@globe.com. Follow her on X @kblewey.