In a rocky week for Donald Trump – amidst ridiculed claims of #wiretapping from the British, a possibly failing health care bill and a bad show of negotiations with key US allies – it's no surprise that Team Trump sought deflection in the shape of a profile on Trump's son Donald Trump Jr.
The long article in the Sunday Styles section of the New York Times gave an in depth look at the sort of complicated life that an uber wealthy upbringing, a domineering and #attention seeking father, a competitive family and a much publicized divorce can bring.
The black sheep done good
The profile paints the picture of a family's black sheep who found his way back through long summers spent hunting, drifting and living in the woods in his grandfather's country estate. Neither an attention seeker nor a recluse, Donald Jr seems to strike just the right balance between political affiliation, public profile and introversion. Well, as introverted as a Trump family member can get.
Since his father has been sworn in as the President of the United States, Trump Jr has been taking the reigns of the Trump Organization, taking charge of licensing and much of the international side of the businesses. And although he initially swore off politics just after the election, he's seen as a rising figure in the Republican party and a stern keeper of the flame for the family name.
Hunting like a pro
An enthusiastic hunter and a skilled outdoorsman, Trump avoids the balls and the baubles that his sister Ivanka has sought in Washington, instead enjoying thrashing liberals on his Twitter account and acting as an informal spokesperson for the National Rifle Association.
All this comes as a surprise for those who read the headlines when he was arrested and imprisoned for 11 hours as a young adult in 2001 during a bout of public drunkenness at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Around this time, he had skipped Upper East Side New York to work and claims that his sporty childhood and the time spent with his grandfather in Europe kept him from getting into much worse trouble.
Czech ancestry helps him stay out of trouble
Donald Jr Trump's mother #Ivana Trump was married to Trump Snr and had two children with him, before divorcing amidst much publicized rumors of an affair Trump had with sometimes actress Marla Maples.
During this fiasco, Trump refused to speak to his father, as was revealed in a profile in New Magazine in 2004. It was a time of conflict and chaos for the Trump children, and Trump himself was planting stories, something that must have angered the young eldest son.
Indeed, Trump Jr found his #father figure role model in his mother's father, his maternal grandfather, a Czech man called #Milos Zelnicek. Ivana's father educated the young man in the ways of hunting, fishing, and generally soaking up the sort of woodsy vibe that has since come back into vogue in certain circles in New York. He also learned the Czech language and spent six to eight weeks each summer ensconced in a rural Czech lifestyle.
His most publicized hinting trip was published in photos online in 2012, when he was seen in #Zimbabwe with a knife in one hand and the bloody tail of an elephant in the other. The trip cause a furor in the press and animal rights advocates contributed to an uproar, Trump defended himself by saying that hunting is mostly about the camaraderie and the company on long trips. "The least interesting part is the three seconds it takes to pull the trigger," he told the New York Times.
