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(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump Jr. hinted that he may run for political office and try to succeed his father as US president.
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“I don’t know, maybe one day,” Donald Trump’s eldest son said on Wednesday at the Qatar Economic Forum when asked if he would consider running for office.
Sitting alongside investor Omeed Malik, Trump Jr. joked about the claps in the auditorium: “It’s probably just a couple of people we know.”
Trump Jr. has spent most of his professional career working for the Trump Organization, which focuses on luxury real estate developments, and is an ardent defender of his father’s economic policies. He’s gained prominence in Trump’s second term and lobbied for JD Vance as vice president.
“I think my father has truly changed the Republican party,” Trump Jr. said. “It’s the America First party now, the MAGA party, however you want to look at it.”
While he has rarely spoken about his political ambitions, Trump Jr. has become more outspoken in recent years. He was a fixture on the campaign trail, making frequent TV appearances and giving a primetime speech at the Republican National Convention.
Trump himself has kept alive speculation that he may try and find a way to run again in 2028 in spite of the two-term limit set by the constitution. During his first term, his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner were influential advisors in the administration. This time around, they are largely in the background.
Trump Jr. has instead emerged as the family member with one of the highest profiles since Trump returned to the Oval Office. However, he doesn’t have a formal role in the White House. Instead he chose to join 1789 Capital, an investment firm focused on conservative-leaning companies. Malik is a founder.
From the stage in Doha, Trump Jr. also criticized Europe’s business environment, contrasting it with that in Gulf states such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The president visited all three last week and announced hundreds of billions of dollars-worth of investments between them and US companies.
“If you look at the comparison here to what’s perhaps going on in Western Europe, this is the place where there’s rational investment,” Trump Jr. said. “People are working hard. You’re not dealing with a regulatory climate that’s so oppressive.”
The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.