The Trump family drama is the real Succession – and now the kids can decide their father’s fate

In a New York courthouse, the Trump children have been giving evidence in a fraud trial that could cost Donald dearly, writes Jon Sopel. It is just the latest episode of their bizarre relationship as the children desperately seek their father’s approval

Donald Trump with his children (R-L) Ivanka, Don Jr and Eric (AP)

If you watched the fabulous TV drama Succession (I mean, for goodness sake who didn’t) the reviews endlessly drew parallels with Rupert Murdoch and his grown-up kids Lachlan, James and Elizabeth. It was irresistible – media mogul, kids the same age. All slightly bruised and battered by this overbearing father. All jockeying for position, trying to win dad’s love and be in his good graces – all to become heir to the empire.

But I have always thought the better comparison is the Trump family. Donald is Logan, Don Jr is Ken, Eric equals Roman and Ivanka is Shiv. And this week they’ve all gotten (to use the Americanism) to star in their own family, made-for-TV drama: The Trumps in court.

On Wednesday it was Don Jr taking the stand in the civil fraud trial that has been brought over the running of the Trump organisation, then it was the turn of Eric. During the Trump presidency these two earned the unkind sobriquet Dumb and Dumber – though there was considerable debate over which one was which from the 1994 film of the same name.

But like a TV mini-series, let’s quickly recap on the story so far (obviously if you’re across all this, press “jump to episode” and skip the next three paragraphs):

The New York attorney general, Letitia James, has accused Trump, his eldest sons and other Trump executives of fraudulently inflating the former president’s wealth to obtain better loan rates from banks, saving them tens of millions of dollars.

One example given was Trump claiming that his Trump Tower triplex apartment was 30,000 sq ft, rather than its actual square footage of 10,996.

The judge, Arthur Engoron, has already ruled that the Trumps committed fraud. The trial is to determine what the punishment should be. And it could be massive.

Don Jr was the first to take the stand, and in his testimony he rather gave the impression that – like his father – attention to detail was not necessarily his forte. He spoke of how he went about signing legal and financial documents put before him. He told the court he would ask, “‘Hey, are we okay signing this document? Do you believe it to be honest and accurate?’ And if they were okay with it, they’d have much more knowledge than I would ever be able to amass, so I would sign it.”

The three oldest Trump children are from his first wife, Ivana, who died a year ago after falling down the stairs at her Manhattan home. In her memoir she recounts the extraordinary reaction of her husband when she told him she wanted to call their first-born son Don Junior. “You can’t do that!” Trump is quoted as saying. “What if he’s a loser?”

It’s a story that simultaneously reveals a great deal about Donald Trump’s narcissism, but also about his children and their constant battle to win both his attention and approval. Something that continues to this day.

In his fight to win the presidency in 2016, only Ivanka was brought into the inner circle. Eric and Don Jr were seen more as a liability than a help. Until, that is, Donald Trump was fighting to win the Iowa caucus. This is Midwest Bible belt. It’s also a place where they like a gun belt. They love their hunting and shooting. Not Donald Trump’s thing – but his two sons are both keen hunters, so suddenly they had a role in the election. They would be deployed. They found favour.

Ivanka – who has been called to testify next week – was the most clearly in favour of the Trump children. She served in the White House as a senior aide to the president – and was often depicted as a restraining force on her father’s wilder excesses. How much she got him to row back on things is debatable. There is equally a school of thought that she didn’t restrain him at all, but just offered a slightly more attractive face to liberal America.

And while we’re on the subject of attractiveness, it’s impossible not to talk about the weird – some might say creepy – way this particular father spoke about his daughter. On Howard Stern’s radio show Trump said “She’s actually always been very voluptuous,” explaining that she hadn’t had breast implants. “She’s tall, she’s almost six feet tall and she’s been, she’s an amazing beauty.”

In another interview Trump was asked how he would feel if Ivanka posed for Playboy. “I don’t think Ivanka would do that, although she does have a very nice figure,” Trump replied. “I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”

Interestingly, Ivanka is now doing her own thing. The breach came at the end of 2020, when Trump was screaming about how the election had been stolen from him. She and her husband, Jared Kushner – another close Trump advisor in the White House – got the hell out of town, and have been keeping their heads down ever since.

If it is hard to imagine Trump back in the White House in 2025, it is even harder to imagine Ivanka back there. Too much water has flowed under that bridge. Eric is the one who is de facto running the business, which leaves the oldest son, Don Jr. He has made quite a name for himself with the MAGA crowd. He’s good at firing up the base and is the ‘mini-me’ to dad on social media.

But inside the Oval advising his father? That’s a stretch. Like in Succession, the family ties may be tortured and dysfunctional but they are strong. All of which means it will be a very different second term if none of them is around; it’s always been a family business. And even wife Melania has scarcely been since he skulked off to Mar-a-Lago.

My own encounter with the Trump children came the day after the Brexit referendum vote. Trump was then the Republican nominee, when all you do is campaign relentlessly up and down the country in the key swing states. Except if you’re Donald Trump. Instead, he flew to his golf course at Turnberry in Scotland. And the children were there too. There was a news conference that would be held on the ninth tee, the famous lighthouse in the background. And there the three of them stood beside their father: glamorous and as beautifully manicured as the greens themselves at this famous golf course, smiling admiringly and respectfully at their father. Something they know they have to do.

In the Netflix drama this would be the flashback to happier times. But now it is all eyes on a New York courthouse in November seven years later. And will the evidence they deliver save the Trump family business from potential destruction and a $250m fine? Stay tuned.