The Anti-Trump Trumps

Since their father became president, Trump’s sons have been running his business in a decidedly un-Donald-like way

- Dan Alexander And Chase Peterson-Withorn

There are big dreams, and then there are Trump-size dreams, ones that demand capital letters and tower over cities. They are what nudged Donald Trump’s grandfather Friedrich from Germany to New York to the Klondike gold rush; impelled the president’s father, Fred, to build an apartment empire in Brooklyn and Queens; and pushed Donald into Manhattan skyscrapers and, eventually, the White House.

When Trump took office and passed the reins to the fourth generation, his sons Eric and Don Jr had grand ambitions too. But their plan—storm into America’s heartland with two new licensed hotel brands—died earlier this year after failing to gain traction. That forced the kids, hamstrung by their father’s pledge not to expand internationally while in office, to pursue a very un-Trumpian strategy.

“If we have to slow down our growth, for the time being, we are happy to do it,” Eric Trump said in a statement when they scrapped the hotel plans in February. Added Don Jr: “When politics are over, we will resume doing what we do best, which is building the best and most luxurious properties in the world.”