Eric Trump (2:42)

Guys, we didn't have anybody else. I mean, we were being laughed at by congressmen and senators. I mean, we had no friends in the political arena. That's not who we were. In fact, they were all gunning for us. They were all laughing at us. They were laughing at him. They were all part of the White House Correspondents Dinner. And, you know, this was the elite in Washington. And remember, this was a very different Republican class back then. I mean, this was, you know, the class of, you know, Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse and a lot of other people like you go down the list, right? Not exactly your favorite, not exactly mine. And, you know, they put us under siege, guys. I mean, I never thought I'd be the number one author in the United States. I did not see this in the card. I probably didn't see it in the card that my father would be commander in chief. Back to back in non consecutive terms. Right. Even though I think you want it three times in a row. But, you know, people are in this country right now, are pissed, and they're voting, frankly, with their. Their wallets. And they put all. And especially you guys, I mean, they put, you know, all of you under siege. They put all of us under siege. They put conservatives around this country under siege. They put people who believed in God under siege. And we were just the tip of the spear. But they came after us relentlessly. I got the most subpoenas in the history of this country. I was subpoenaed 112 times.

John Bickley (3:45)

Wow.

Eric Trump (3:45)

Deposition every single day. They made up the Russia hoax. They made up the, you know, the dirty dossier. They made up impeachment number one. Impeachment number two. They went after Kavanaugh. They went after the Supreme Court justices. They weaponized every DA and AG in this country against our family, against our company. They tried to extort our employees. They took my father off the ballot of Colorado. Then they took him off the ballot of Maine. They took away our voice. They took us off of YouTube and Twitter and Instagram and Facebook, right? And then they gag ordered as every single court in the nation gag ordered my father and that it was the 91 indictments. And then the IRS started leaking my father's tax returns, and then they started leaking my tax returns. And then they started, you know, leaking all our corporate attorneys tax returns. And I mean, they did everything they could. They called up the banks, told them to debunk us as a company. They tried to destroy us. And when everything failed, right, when all the mug shots failed, when the raids of Mar A Lago failed, when Jack Smith failed, when Comey failed, after the spying on the campaign failed, they tried to kill him in Butler. And when that failed, they tried to kill him again at the golf course and in Palm Beach. They've done everything they could to put our family under siege because they wanted to put this nation under siege. And thank God we fought every single day. Thank God we didn't back down, thank God we didn't cave in, and we have a much better nation for it.

Interviewer 1 (5:07)

Now, what was that like, having the full weight of the US Government bearing down on your family? Plus, not to mention, it was all the media, and it was international media. I think those of us who voted for your dad felt like he was probably the only person on planet Earth who would stay standing after all of that. So what was that like? And what did it take for him to do that?

Eric Trump (5:31)

Oh, it was relentless. I mean, guys, I sat there next to him on the cold pews of those courthouse benches every single day for months on end. I would not leave his side. And you're right. I mean, we had 98% of the media coverage in this country against my father in mainstream media was negative, right? 98% negative coverage against them. And they had the weaponized DOJ and they had the weaponized FBI, and they were sending again, all the AGs and DAs to do their bidding for them. They were going after him every single day. And by the way, they were silencing him, right? They were taking him off of the prominent channels. When they took him off of old Twitter and now X, he had a couple hundred million followers. He could communicate to the entire country and the entire world. They killed that channel. Why did they kill that channel? Because they wanted to kill his voice. They did the same thing with YouTube. They did the same thing with Instagram. They wanted to kill his voice. Why do you think every judge in the country that went after him, they gag ordered him? Well, they wanted to kill his voice. They didn't want him to be able to talk. And honestly, it just pissed off the American people. And again, that was the siege. But they did it to you guys, and they did it to us, and they did it to the American people. When they started going after their pastors, when they started weaponizing the IRS against people's churches, when they started Hiring DEI people that were replacing people who would work their entire career to climb a corporate ladder. And all of a sudden, a DEI pick gets chosen. When all of a sudden fathers and mothers were seeing men my size swim against women in collegiate women's sports, and all of a sudden you have a dude swimming against them. They pissed off this entire country, right? And the country revolted against the very institutions that were coming after all of us. And that's why we won so spectacularly in 2024. That's why we won the popular vote. We won every swing state. Every state in the nation went to the right. I mean, you know, we won 11 counties in California that had never been won by a conservative before. We won Miami Dade by 11%. But, I mean, Miami Dade hadn't been won in 37 years. We won Miami Dade by 11%. It was the greatest political victory in history, all because we were able to withstand the siege. So, you know, the book is actually a beautiful story. It's not just of governmental corruption, you know, but it's. It's when all the walls are closing in, you know, and you feel like you can't breathe, and you feel like, you know, you're out of choices and you're out of room, and, you know, it's impossible. And so the ultimate David and Goliath story, that if you fight, if you work, if you punch back, if you do it with dignity and backbone and family, you know, you can win. You can beat the system. And that's what we did as a nation. We beat the system that tried to destroy all of us.

John Bickley (8:07)

You know, when you laid out the series of attacks on your father and your family, it is actually hard to believe. I remember every single one of them reliving it quickly as you listed it out. Do you feel the fact that you were able to mount the greatest political comeback in history, able to win, and then now have the most transformative presidency I think we've ever seen? I think people on the right and left would have to agree with this. Have you broken down walls? I mean, have the approaches to silence your father, to silence your family, to debank your family, have you broken those things completely, or is this still an ongoing battle?

Eric Trump (8:46)

No. Now all the bankers that tried to debank us are all kissing your, you know what? Right. I mean, that's not shocking. We know exactly who these. These people are, but, you know, they're coming back. Oh, we'd love to. We'd love to re. Engage. We. We missed the great old times where we were and you always remember who these people were. But here's what I'll tell you. I mean, the media is dead in this country. Abc, NBC, cbs, they're dead. You know, print journalism in this country is dead. And all of a sudden, you've got incredible independent voices like you. You know, this. This podcast will reach substantially more people by a factor of a lot than CNN could ever possibly reach in the same time spot. Right? And the point that I'm making is you're winning, we're winning. You know, Americans are sick and tired of the nonsense, and so they don't trust the Democratic Party anymore. The Democratic Party has no leadership. The mainstream media is dead. My father has been proven right time after time. They don't trust the federal government in the very institutions that cried wolf over and over. And now he's doing a remarkable job getting peace in the Middle east and dropping taxes, largest tax cuts, and markets are flying and gas prices are coming down and inflation's coming down and churches are full on weekends, and American values are back, and Americans are behind my father, and he's throwing so much lead in the air that the Democrats don't know what to do. They don't know how to counter narrative. And it is for a guy who was part of that siege, for a guy who became the punching bag of the entire left, for a guy who ran the entire Trump Organization effectively everything that is Trump outside of Washington, D.C. i can't tell you how much I'm enjoying sitting there with the popcorn open and just watching him be effective day after day after day. It's driving them crazy. It's not driving him crazy. And. And he's doing a great job. And it was all worth it. The siege was worth it.

Interviewer 1 (10:35)

Now it's very different today than it was more than 10 years ago now when your dad was contemplating his presidential run. And back at that time, he really had his pulse on issues that a lot of Americans couldn't even really articulate yet. That's kind of what made him stand out in that field. What was it like having family dinner conversations about politics back then? What do you remember him talking about most during those early.

Eric Trump (11:01)

This is a great question. I mean, he was always a pragmatist, right? He'd read a paper and he'd see that we are 30th of the world in terms of education. He'd shake his head, saying, how in the world is America 30th of the world in education when we spend 10 times the amount per pupil educating our kids? Right? And Then you would see our military being run down, or you'd see US spend $10 trillion in Afghanistan and Iraq. And every day there's another young kid that's blowing up and hurt and maimed, and he's sitting there saying, what are these people doing? And he would see the waste and the fraud and the abuse and the total incompetence and the fact that you'd have Barack Obama show up in China. They wouldn't even bring a staircase to Air Force One. I mean, we were so disrespected on the global stage, and he's sitting there saying, listen, I need this job like a hole in the head, literally and figuratively. And in those days, we had no idea how bad it would be. Clearly, I think the whole world was naive to how bad it was going to be. But he's like, I want to save this country. I want to save this nation. I'm the guy to do it. And he was the guy to do it. He was absolutely the guy to do it. No one else could have done what Donald Trump did. No one else could have disassembled the media, disassembled everything that was woke, disassembled everything that was dei. Bring family values back, bring Christianity back and faith and religion back. Protect the Second Amendment, protect freedom of speech, you know, the First Amendment rights. No one else could have done what he did. No one else could have withstood the amount of punches and the checks that we had to write as a family. Close to $400 million to fend off, you know, what garbage Russia collusion that never happened. You know, they wanted us gone. They wanted us dead. And no one else could have withstood that battle other than him. And he's doing an unbelievable job. And I truly think America's thankful for it.

John Bickley (12:44)

It's obviously a huge lift to restore trust in our major institutions, starting with the federal government, the FBI, the White House. The perspective of us on the world stage, this peace deal is a massive step forward in Israel, the work your father's doing in Ukraine, hopefully another peace deal in the works. Do you feel that you can accomplish as a family what you're setting out to do, which is put this country back in a place where people trust the leadership of the country?

Eric Trump (13:17)

I do. Assuming there's accountability for the actions of career criminals who did what they did? You know, when you have 51 CIA agents coming out and saying that, you know, Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation, when they knew that was a lie and they're signing pieces of paper, you know, that gets rid of trust. When you have the FBI and the DOJ spying on my father's first campaign, you better believe that diminishes trust among half of the country. When 30 FBI agents raid Mar a Lago on behalf of NARA, the National Archives, Right? A glorified public library. Give me a break. Does anybody really believe that a library is raiding a former president's home with 30 FBI agents that are armed? And I'm getting the call from my team saying they're insisting, Eric, that you turn off all security cameras at the property. Give me a break. No one believes it. And so it's. Listen, I think it's gonna take time. They could do everything right, guys. I think it's gonna take time. It's like, you know, it's like a cheating spouse. Like, people don't just forget. It takes time, you know, before you can build back that confidence in some way, shape or form. And I think that's what the FBI and I think that's what the DOJ has to do. And I have to say, there's great people in both those organizations now. I mean, by the way, the rank and file of those organizations is amazing. They never wanted this political trip, you know, the eighth floor of all of these agencies, they're the ones that weaponize those agencies for their own personal politics, you know, and they should be ashamed of themselves. But I think there has to be accountability.

John Bickley (14:41)

And you've mentioned faith a few times. Religious participation in the country on the rise again. We saw the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. We've all personally witnessed the revival in our own communities. It's pretty remarkable. What role do you see that playing going forward?

Eric Trump (15:01)

Listen, God got us here. And I say that with every ounce of my. We could not have beaten Hillary Clinton. And I spent a lot of time in Under Siege talking about this. I mean, we didn't know what a caucus was. We didn't know what a delegate was. We didn't know what the hell we were doing. We were real estate guys. We were really good at real estate. We didn't know what the hell we were doing in terms of politics. And yet we beat the greatest political dynasty of the last hundred years in this country who raised $1.5 billion. And we self funded a campaign. And you better believe the hand of God was on my father, guiding him throughout the whole process. You better believe the hand of God was on my father and Butler as well, you know, as he turns his head at the exact right time. And the American flag rolls up in a perfect angel like figure right above his head. Listen, we felt it in the darkest moments. I mean, walking out of a courtroom where we think we're going to jail for having done nothing wrong, all of a sudden you would see a light at the end of the tunnel and something would change and something would happen and it would give you hope. You better believe that that spirituality was a big part of this fight.

John Bickley (15:59)

You mentioned the roles you play in the family businesses. You wear a lot of hats. What's keeping you the busiest these days?

Eric Trump (16:06)

Oh, God. Well, this book over the last month and a half has certainly kept me the busiest because I'm hell bent on winning the number one book in the country. And we're doing that. I mean, again, it's been amazing. But we have 26 developments around the world, and I'm extremely proud of them. I mean, we're the best hospitality company in the world. We do it better than anybody, and we do it at America. And, you know, funny enough, through all the debanking, I found cryptocurrency and, you know, building a company called American Bitcoin, which I'm incredibly proud of, building a company called World Liberty Financial. We're the fastest growing stablecoin on earth, which I'm incredibly proud of. And so, you know, I'm trying to be a good father, trying to be a good husband to Laura, who I absolutely adore. She's a hell of a part of this fight. And, you know, supporting my father at every juncture, he's. He's the greatest. And I want America to win. I want America to be the greatest country on earth. I want us to be the number one superpower. And I don't want to concede an inch to a lot of people who have a lot of malice toward all of us in the Western way of life. And so long as we're here fighting, I promise we'll always protect this country. We'll always protect our values. We will do everything. We will use our assets and our fight and our voice and our backbone and our stubbornness and everything else you can possibly imagine to protect the greatest country on earth. We love this country. All your viewers love this country, and we're not going to let it slip away.

John Bickley (17:24)

Well, thank you so much for joining us. Great luck with this book. I'm sure you're very proud of it, and I think a lot of people are going to read this book. Thank you so much, Eric, for joining us, guys.

Eric Trump (17:34)

Thanks for having me.

John Bickley (17:36)

That was Eric Trump the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, talking about his new memoir, under Siege, My Family's Fight to Save Our Nation. This has been a weekend edition of MORNING Wire.