Eric Trump has been grilled over the fallout from a hot mic moment between his father and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto that seemed to confirm they were discussing family business matters.
In footage obtained by Reuters, Subianto could be heard asking Trump during the president’s visit to Egyptian city Sharm el-Sheikh on Oct. 13, “Can I meet Eric?”
“I’ll have Eric call. Should I do that? He’s such a good boy, I’ll have Eric call,” Trump replied. It was not immediately clear from the clip what matter the two leaders were discussing.
Eric is the third child and second son of Trump and his first wife, Ivana. He serves as the executive vice president of the Trump Organization.
During an interview on CNN’s The Source on Thursday, host Kaitlan Collins asked Eric about the unusual interaction. Trump’s second son echoed comments made earlier to Real America’s Voice, where he revealed that it was related to the two family businesses in Indonesia.
The Trump Organization owns a golf club just outside Jakarta, and another project in Bali is set to rise “very soon,” he told the conservative network.
Speaking to CNN, the 41-year-old said he had not heard from the Indonesian president and had never met him, then awkwardly referenced his father’s quote, adding, “I’m glad he acknowledges I’m a good boy. I am a good boy.”
The 41-year-old plugged the family investments in Indonesia and claimed he presumed that was the reason behind the conversation.
Collins pressed Eric on whether there is a “wall” between his business dealings and his father’s political career, noting, “What does it say when a world leader is asking to get in touch with you?”
“I think there‘s a huge wall,” Eric insisted. “I mean, there‘s so much of a wall that the guy’s never met me.”
“I mean, we‘ve got two very prominent projects, and the guy asked to meet me because he has never met me. And so, I don‘t know, I think that probably indicates that there‘s a pretty big wall right there.”
The president’s second son told Real America’s Voice that he was amused by Subianto’s request to “meet Eric” on the sidelines of the Gaza summit.
“Obviously, I don’t get involved in politics in Indonesia but when I heard that, I started laughing,” he went on. “I must know the projects very well. We’re very proud of what we did in Indonesia. We’ve been there for well over a decade and so I’m sure he knows about our great success.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization told ABC News that the group “has two of the largest and most substantial projects in all of Indonesia, which began in 2015, long before President Trump entered office for the first term.”
“It should come as no surprise that our unbelievable property was referenced given its prominence within the country,” the statement said.
Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that he has left the task of running family businesses to his sons, who both serve as executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization. In January, the organization announced an ethics plan that would keep the president out of the business empire that helped propel his rise to fame.
But the president has not backed away from hawking Trump-branded merchandise since he returned to the White House, advertising $2,999 watches, $1,000 signed Bibles, and his-and-hers perfumes.
In September, Trump snapped at an Australian reporter who confronted him about whether a president in office “should be engaged in so much business activity.” “
“Well, I’m really not. My kids are running the business,” he clapped back. “In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now, and they want to get along with me.”
