Years ago, during Donald Trump’s first term, many reasonably perceived Eric Trump as the son who was the least bright bulb in the Trump shed. The President’s third child was often the butt of jokes on late-night TV, being repeatedly referred to as the most forgetful of the five.
Now we’re in the 47th President reign, and Eric Trump hasn’t necessarily grown any brighter, but like other members of his billions-of-dollars-in-net-worth family, he’s become much more unashamed to speak his thoughts. One could say he’s become more empowered to say whatever he feels like saying. But – for now – are there still limits to the executive vice president of the Trump Organization’s willingness to showcase his idiocy for everyone to see?
There is a screenshot of a supposed Eric tweet making its rounds around the Internet and igniting fires in its wake. In it, the X user seems to throw his weight around to threaten the rest of the world if any other nation refuses to bend on one knee as soon as the US President demands. However, in this post-truth digital age, we simply cannot trust everything that comes across our screens.
Do not immediately trust your biases
As much as one may understandably be inclined to expect everything and anything from the Trump family at this point, Eric Trump did not fall so low as to make the tweet featured in the fake screenshot. As the TikToker @donnalikesplants points out in this TikTok, although convincing at a first and perhaps even a second glance, if one has been on X often enough – my condolences to your mental health if that’s you – one knows that both the “K” and the “M” that mark the number of views are both uppercase. But, in this alleged deleted post, the “k” is lowercase.
As Donna states: “There’s enough bad stuff going on, we don’t need to be making stuff up.” This fake tweet was circulating in the aftermath of the tariff war Donald Trump nearly started with Colombia. While the thirdborn might not have stooped as low as some might have assumed upon finding this fake deleted post on social media, the same cannot be said about his father and older brother, as these tweets are unfortunately real.
The world is on notice: American leadership is back & we’re protecting our sovereignty.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 27, 2025
Plus, @berniemoreno with new major legislation to keep our country safe and secure
My triggered podcast 6 pm et on @rumblevideo see you there!!!
This is what it looks like when you have a President who is tough, competent and not spending his days in bed napping. https://t.co/Y57GOirYUi
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 26, 2025
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in a passionate and eloquent letter – the current U.S. President could never replicate or understand its depth if he tried – attempted to put his foot down and not bend to Trump’s domineering will. Bear in mind, Petro was not against welcoming back his Colombian citizens, but against the undignified way they were being treated: like prisoners, who were carried handcuffed in military planes.
If even a fraction of you believes these immigrants may deserve the inhumane treatment, it means you have bought into Trump’s consistent fearmongering campaign. A campaign that sought to make you forget that the “other” is a human being who deserves human rights.
Unfortunately, just like he handed out pardons to Jan. 6 insurrectionists indiscriminately, Trump doesn’t discern whether the migrants he is deporting are criminals or not, “good” or “bad” people. This is a man who only cares about showcasing the numbers to earn applause he does not deserve. As such, he’s pressuring ICE to deliver more and more of the presumably undocumented, but never in terms of thorough investigations and fairness. Deporting actual criminals takes longer because these individuals are usually on the run, already under police radar, and will take longer to be located and apprehended. On the other hand, finding working migrant families who are doing their best to become legal and thus are not in hiding, is far easier and quicker.
As a conclusion, while Eric Trump may not have virtually yelled at the rest of the world to “step in line or else,” that is nevertheless the message being sent out. Colombia got the threatening warning firsthand, and the rest of the world received it indirectly, but just as loud and clear.
Published: Jan 28, 2025 5:24 PM UTC