Since the October release of his memoir, “Under Siege: My Family’s Fight to Save Our Nation”, Eric Trump has been on a media tour, airing his family’s most personal stories.
Trump, 41, is the youngest of the three children born to President Donald Trump and Ivana Trump during their marriage, which lasted from 1977 to 1990. His older siblings are Donald Jr., 47, and Ivanka, 44.
In the latest episode of “Pod Force One,” hosted by the New York Post’s Miranda Devine, Trump opened up about his strict upbringing under his mother, the late Ivana Trump. During the episode, he described her as a determined disciplinarian who believed firmly in “tough love.”
“If you had to get through her to go to my father, you were in real deep crap because she had already taken a pound of flesh out of you,” Eric said when asked whether his mother or father was harder on him and his siblings.
He went on to recall his mother’s firm approach, which he partly attributed to her Czechoslovakian heritage. He noted her habit of turning her large diamond rings inward so as not to cause serious bruising or cuts if she resorted to spanking or slapping.
The Trump Family, circa 1986.
— MythoMAGA (@MythoMAGA) October 6, 2025
Clockwise from top: Don Jr., Donald, Ivanka, Eric, and Ivana Trump. pic.twitter.com/7rQaZ77Z26
“That’s probably taboo in today’s culture, right? You’re not allowed to touch your kids. I appreciate that, I respect it and everything else, but what I will tell you is it worked,” Trump said. “I mean, a couple times she grabbed Don [Jr.], pulled his pants down, and his [behind] was black and blue — and it certainly worked. It certainly worked for me.”
Eric went on to describe Ivana as an “amazing person, an amazing mother. I joke that she was kind of Lindsay Vonn, Claudia Schiffer, and Joan Rivers all melded into one, because she had no filter. That made her very special.”
Before sharing those memories of her discipline, he recounted the tragic day he discovered his mother’s body on July 14, 2022, in her Manhattan townhouse on East 64th Street. Reports stated Ivana was found at the bottom of the staircase, apparently having fallen after suffering cardiac arrest.
“Yeah, it was a terrible day,” he said solemnly. “I found her, loved her. Um, you know, she suffered from certain ailments. One of them was, you know, just probably drank too much, and that ended her life.”
The Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization added with emotion, “That was an ugly day. We loved her. She was an amazing woman. I mean, she taught us everything. She was great. She was kind. She was beautiful. She was elegant.”
Still, Eric couldn’t resist circling back to her tough side. “And yet, if we got this far out of line, you’d have these fake long nails dig into your throat,” he said, gesturing.
Candid stories about any Trump childhood struck a chord among many, but especially for Eric, as some listeners wanted to hear more stories about his life.
“I see a lot of Ivana in him,” one fan wrote on the podcast’s YouTube channel. Another agreed, noting, “I had never heard his voice since 2016 until now that he’s promoting his book. IMHO, he’s sharper than his older brother.”
Others felt like Ivana’s approach to parenting was too harsh, and explained why Eric is viewed as the outcast of the family and seems so removed from his other siblings.
“This poor kid. What nightmare parents,” said one person, while another added, “It really damaged this guy. His parents are nuts.”
Not everyone was convinced, however. One skeptical viewer remarked, “Eric has the least charisma out of the Trump kids. Seems like he’s being pushed on us.”
