Donald Trump Jr engaged to socialite Bettina Anderson

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump told attendees at a White House holiday party on the night of Dec 15 that his eldest son, Mr Donald Jr, is engaged to Ms Bettina Anderson, a Palm Beach socialite.

Mr Andrew Surabian, a spokesman for the younger Mr Trump, confirmed the engagement.

The President’s announcement threw a spotlight on a relationship that had long been the subject of tabloid speculation.

In December 2024, the British tabloid The Daily Mail published photos of the younger Mr Trump, 47, and Ms Anderson holding hands in Palm Beach.

Ms Kimberly Guilfoyle, then Mr Donald Trump Jr’s fiancee, was named as his father’s choice to be ambassador to Greece
hours later.

Ms Guilfoyle was sworn in as the Greek ambassador in September and was dispatched to her post in Athens in November.

Mr Donald Trump Jr, who runs the Trump Organisation alongside his brother Eric, has ploughed ahead with a yawning list of business ventures capitalising on his family name and proximity to the President.

And he has frequently appeared in public alongside Ms Anderson since his father’s return to office.

It is the third time that the younger Trump has been engaged.

He proposed to his first wife, Vanessa in 2004, and the two were married at Mar-a-Lago in 2005.

At the time of their engagement, Mr Trump Jr accepted a ring from the Bailey Banks & Biddle jewellery store in Short Hills, New Jersey, in exchange for publicity, recreating his proposal in a New Jersey mall.

He filed for divorce in 2018.

Ms Guilfoyle, Mr Trump’s second fiancee, was a prominent Republican surrogate during their relationship, and gave speeches at the 2020 and 2024 Republican conventions.

By 2024, speculation had already been swirling about Ms Anderson’s closeness to Mr Trump Jr, and the socialite was seen sitting behind the engaged couple at the Republican National Convention that July. NYTIMES