Donald Trump's Big Children Open Life With Their Controversial Father
Donald Trump's children tell PEOPLE about growing up with their famous father
"Peoplenow"] In their first family conversation, Donald Trump and his wife Melania opened up about raising their son Barron and their hopes at the White House. Sign up now for instant access to these special People!
He is the father of five children - and the eldest of seven (and one on the way) - and Donald Trump says his family has always been the most important thing in his life.
"I have always been proud to be a good father," said the hopeful Republican president in his new interview at PEOPLE. I was always with my children. ”
He was also defensive. After her breakup with Ivana Trump in 1990, their three children, Donald Jr., now 37, Ivanka, 33, and Eric, 31, were sent to a boarding school to protect them. in the war of words of their parents in the N.YC papers. (Trump was married to beauty queen Marla Maples, and later had a daughter, Tiffany, 21; adopted Barron, and Melania, in 2006.)
"It was too much," she said, considering the "record" number of tabs covering their divorce, which gives credit to the strength of her children. He says: “Children are much more powerful than you think. "And they've grown up to be people we're really proud of."
Trump’s four oldest children, all of whom have spoken to PEOPLE about the story on the cover, praised their father for giving them a normal upbringing.
"He has been protecting us from the public eye," Eric said. “We never made tabloids when we were younger. He was that man, all his life, he always had thousands of cameras on him but we were raised as normal children, or at least ordinary as you would not be raised under these conditions. "
“When we were kids, we used to sit in the boarding house while he negotiated the deal, and when we played with the trucks, we made a noise, it didn’t mean anything,” Donald recalls. Jr., who is married has five children. Along with Ivanka and Eric, Donald Jr. he works for his father's company. (Although Donald Jr. oversees many of Trump's golf courses, Trump's biggest jokes say he "wouldn't be interested" in the game.)
Following his father in the business world was “not a problem,” says Don. Jr., as he is called. "It's like, I've been doing this my whole life anyway!"
Ivanka says she is still very grateful for her father as he too has become a parent.
"Ivanka, 14, loved her father very much but did not realize how big he was," she said. “Ivanka's parents are very grateful. Now that I am a parent I can see how difficult it is. He was stubborn, strong, but always found in us. ”
After all, her four-year-old daughter, Arabella, had been studying the high values of her grandfather.
“My daughter saw the water hole and said, 'Grandpa wouldn't like that,'” Ivanka recalls with a laugh. "The fact that my daughter sees the rift and says that this is not acceptable to my grandfather proves that she has always seen him go to work, forcing the team to do everything possible."
And, after two difficult divorces, Trump's children give him credit for maintaining a good relationship with both ex-wives - and promoting intimacy between the children.
“We work together every day. We often go to work together and when we are not working, we spend very little time relaxing together, ”says Eric. "It's a special obligation and I can count on them also relying on me."
"We're really close," added Tiffany, a college student currently preparing for her LSAT. “Ivanka was always there for me whenever I needed her. With internships and health advice, from girls' situations to education and everything. And Melania is so sweet and a good mom to Barron. My mother thinks Melania is an amazing person. I am blessed to have a father who is always there for me and a mother who is always there for me and they get along well. ”
As for their father’s future in the White House, all of his children say they are in his corner. “It just really enlightened me as we sat on the plane to the first interview,” Tiffany said. “That's surreal isn't it? Sleeping party at the White House! ”
