U.S. President Donald Trump announced he might miss his eldest son Donald Trump Jr.’s upcoming wedding due to the stalled U.S.-Iran war. Addressing reporters from the Oval Office, Trump cited the deadlocked ceasefire negotiations and the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as the reasons for his uncertain schedule.
Donald Trump Jr., 48, is scheduled to marry 39-year-old Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson this Memorial Day weekend in a private destination ceremony in the Bahamas.
Trump explained that the geopolitical crisis takes priority, saying he “has a thing called Iran and other things” keeping him in Washington. He also addressed the media scrutiny surrounding his travel decisions, according to a report by The Guardian on Thursday. “That’s one I can’t win on. If I do attend, I get killed. If I don’t attend, I get killed by the fake news of course,” Trump said.
During the same interaction, Trump offered an unconventional description of his 48-year-old son, referring to him as “a person I’ve known for a long time,” before adding that he hopes the couple will have a great marriage.
The military conflict that erupted with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes in February remains paused under a fragile ceasefire, but negotiations are deadlocked. The Pentagon continues to weigh military options as Washington demands Tehran surrender highly enriched uranium, while Iranian officials maintain a supervision area in the Strait of Hormuz.
The couple originally explored hosting the ceremony at the White House but downsized the event to a small Bahamas gathering due to the ongoing war. This will be Trump Jr.’s second marriage. He divorced Vanessa Trump in 2018 and recently ended an engagement to Kimberly Guilfoyle in 2024.