President Donald Trump, 79, made an unusual admission during a White House Christmas Reception on Sunday, December 14, 2025, suggesting his eldest son would prioritize hunting over attending his memorial service.
Speaking at the White House holiday gathering, Trump offered a candid assessment of his relationship with Donald Trump Jr., 47, who is known for his passion for big-game hunting. The president’s remarks came during a discussion about the memoir “Venom and Valor” by James J. Jones, which chronicles his experience being bitten by a snake in the Amazon.
“I’m saying this for my son by the way because I have a son who would rather be in the jungle than any place on earth,” Trump noted, directing his comments toward his son.
The president then painted a stark picture of his future memorial. “When I kick the bucket someday, I figure—I think he’ll be here for about two days. He’ll go and pay his respects and we’ll say, ‘Where’s Don?’ He’d rather be in some jungle, some—and he’s a really good hunter. But remember this. Wildlife always wins, unfortunately in this case.”
The comments spotlight the younger Trump’s well-documented enthusiasm for hunting, which has previously generated controversy. In 2012, photos emerged of Don Jr. from hunts conducted in 2010, showing him posing with various trophies. The images included him holding a sawn-off elephant’s tail and embracing a dead leopard alongside his brother Eric Trump.
At the time, Don Jr. defended his hobby against criticism from animal rights activists in response to the public backlash from PETA.
The president’s hunting-obsessed son has apparently long sought to turn his passion into a media venture. Trump biographer Michael Wolff revealed that the president once explored getting Don Jr. a hunting show on Warner Bros. Discovery.
Trump’s Christmas Reception remarks covered multiple topics beyond his son’s hunting preferences. The gathering, which veered from traditional holiday pleasantries, touched on various subjects including recent national events and family matters.
The president’s willingness to publicly speculate about his son’s future absence from his memorial stands in contrast to other family discussions. Trump has previously spoken about family burial arrangements at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey, where his first wife Ivana Trump was laid to rest following her death at 73.
Ivana Trump, the mother of Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka Trump, died and was subsequently buried at the Bedminster golf course. The decision to inter her at the family property came despite their divorce decades earlier.
The president’s recent public appearances have included multiple events where he has addressed various topics. On October 14, 2025, Trump posthumously awarded Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. During that ceremony, Trump reflected on his own experiences, including an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on July 14, 2022.
Discussing that incident, Trump mentioned his fortunate timing during the attack. He referred to how he avoided serious injury when a 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire. The president’s comments came as he honored Kirk, who was shot and killed at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025, at 31 years old.
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, 36, accepted the medal on her husband’s behalf during the White House ceremony. Trump also signed a proclamation establishing the occasion as a national day of remembrance.
The president’s candid admission about his son’s priorities has generated discussion about family dynamics and public expectations of presidential families. Trump’s willingness to acknowledge that Don Jr. would “rather be in the jungle” than at his memorial service represents an unusually frank assessment of their relationship, particularly when delivered in such a public setting as a White House reception.
The Christmas Reception remarks add another chapter to the public narrative surrounding the Trump family, highlighting the complex interplay between personal relationships and public life at the highest levels of American politics.
