Eric Trump and his father, Donald Trump.
Eric Trump toggles his time between Las Vegas and New York as a top-level executive at Trump International and the highest-ranking official at Trump International Las Vegas. He also juggles responsibilities as a resort official and de facto campaign spokesman for his father’s presidential campaign.
Trump is the third and youngest child of Donald and Ivana Trump. He recently spoke with The Sunday about his family’s resort, which opened in March 2008, and his father’s lively run for office.
What has your father’s presidential campaign meant to the Trump brand?
He’s an incredible guy, and everything he has touched in his life has turned to gold. He is larger than life. There are certain people in the world who are just winners, and he is one of them.
He has no filter. Does that make you nervous?
I think people find it refreshing, and it is interesting, for the first time, for us to be in politics. It’s a brutal business, to tell you the truth. It’s a tough, tough thing. There is a lot of scrutiny, obviously. He has sparked a lot of conversations about a lot of issues people otherwise wouldn’t be talking about. People wouldn’t be talking about immigration and sanctuary cities if he hadn’t brought that to light. He has brought a lot of important issues to the forefront because he is not afraid to be vocal and is not bought by special-interest groups.
Could his opinions detract from the family’s business prospects?
We’re opening properties on every corner of the globe. We’re doing tremendously well. I can’t walk down the street without someone telling me they support my father. I was walking by a building I walk by every day in New York, and the doorman said, “Everybody who works in this building is supporting your father 100 percent. Tell him to give them hell.”
Has there been a moment where you or your siblings have said, “Hold on, Dad, you might want to watch what you’re saying?”
You might think I’m joking, but no. I know the person he is; he’s incredibly passionate. He’s willing to speak when something is on his mind. He says it as it is, and sometimes the truth is difficult. At the same time, I think the media have taken a lot of things and twisted words and tried to take them out of context. I think that has happened through the entire campaign, and he has ended up being on the victorious side of many of these quote-unquote scandals.
When has the coverage of your father been unfair?
In the first week of the campaign, everyone was piling on him about illegal immigration until they actually started hearing the message. Countless examples, like when someone says, “I think they’re building terrorist camps in the Mideast, and President Obama is a Muslim,” and he shrugs his shoulders and says, “Is this really my first question? Next,” the coverage is, “How dare you not defend the president of the United States?” It’s really silly. But he’s doing phenomenally well. He is running a successful presidential campaign, self-funding that campaign, and at the same time, running one of the most successful companies in the world.
How is Trump International performing?
We couldn’t be more proud of the project. We built it — on time and slightly under budget — when just about everybody said we couldn’t get it done. It has been an absolute, tremendous success. Many other projects were being built at the same time that were billions of dollars over budget and literally years behind schedule. It’s a great testament to us, and the hotel has done great. We are packed. People love the product type.
Is the hotel going to unionize?
If the employees wanted a union, believe me, it would be unionized. The union protest looked very weak in the eyes of our employees. Since the very beginning of Trump International, the union has tried and has failed to unionize. We have amazing associates, an incredible team, and we work together as a family, not to sound cliché. Our employees are categorically rejecting the union, and it’s for reasons beyond just salary and benefits. It is because we have a strong relationship with all of them.
Editor’s note: After this interview took place, Trump hotels announced that hackers had accessed the company’s computer system, potentially obtaining customers’ credit-card information between May 2014 and June 2015. The Trump Organization released the following statement about the breach in response to a request from The Sunday:
“Like virtually every other company these days, we may have been the target of a cyber security incident. Upon notification, we immediately engaged independent forensic experts. Although the forensic experts did not find that any customer information was removed from our systems, out of an abundance of caution, we provided notice of the incident to our clients. We are working with the Secret Service and the FBI to help catch these criminals and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. We are committed to safeguarding all guests’ personal information.”
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