Donald Trump Jr. wrote about a trip to Arlington National Cemetery just before President Trump’s inauguration in his newly released book, where he reflected on his family’s sacrifices since his father took office.
Then-President-elect Trump and the first family were at the cemetery the day before Trump’s inauguration in January of 2017. Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where unidentified soldiers from World War I, World War II and the Korean War are buried in crypts.
“I rarely get emotional, if ever,” Trump Jr. wrote in his new book, “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us.” “Yet, as we drove past the rows of white grave markers, in the gravity of the moment, I had a deep sense of the importance of the presidency and a love of our country.”
{mosads} “Frankly, it was a big sacrifice, costing us millions and millions of dollars annually, a huge book of business that I had personally built,” he continues.
Trump said he considered all of the sacrifices the Trump family made in order for Trump to serve in office as an Army Band bugler played “Taps” in front of the tomb.
“In that moment, I also thought of all the attacks we’d already suffered as a family, and about all the sacrifices we’d have to make to help my father succeed — voluntarily giving up a huge chunk of our business and all international deals to avoid the appearance that we were ‘profiting off the office,’” Trump Jr. wrote.
The passage warranted immediate criticism online. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) blasted the passage on Twitter, saying, “Eight men I served with are buried in Section 60 of Arlington. I visit them monthly. Even if Donald JR. lived a 1,000 years he will never even get close to being as good and honorable as they were. Sacrifice is only a word to the Trumps.”
The author Matt Gallagher, who is also a veteran, spoke out about the message.
The president has said his Trump Organization business interests are in a blind trust managed by his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. However, ethics watchdogs have still expressed concerns that foreign officials could patronize Trump Organization hotels and businesses to gain access to Trump.
President Trump has denied that he has violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which bars elected officials from receiving gifts or benefits from foreign governments without Congress’s approval. Multiple lawsuits have alleged that Trump has violated the rule.
“This thing is costing me a fortune, and I love it,” Trump said at an appearance at a Shell petrochemical plant in Pennsylvania earlier this year. “I love it because I’m making the lives of other people much, much better.”