Triggered

  Still, the campaign we face in 2020 is going to be an even greater test of both DJT’s will and ours. Back in 2016, it was pretty much just Bernie shouting socialist nonsense. Today, there are card-carrying socialists leading a revolt in the Democratic Party. In 2016, there was only one corrupt Democrat, at least only one we had to worry about—admittedly, Hillary was the kind who can escape prosecution at the highest levels of the government despite clear evidence of crimes, the kind whose enemies always seem to “commit suicide” under mysterious circumstances—but still, she was only one person. And as the conservative comedians jokingly say, “she can’t suicide us all.” Today, there are twenty Democratic candidates in the race, each one representing a different horrible path for our country. Back in 2016, my father had the element of surprise on his side. Few on the left even took his campaign seriously, let alone noticed the movement he was creating. Today, the left, the liberal media, and the administrative state have their eyes wide open. They’re like a trapped animal. They will do anything to regain power. Anything.

  I also know that if they’re spoiling for a fight, they came to the right place. Of all the lessons my father has taught me—and there have been plenty—the greatest one is this: There comes a time when you have to put up or shut up, to be a man (or a woman; I don’t want to be charged by the PC police) whether or not it’s politically correct to do so, or walk away. To fight or be a coward. So the left can take whatever shots it wants at us. We’ll do what we always do: hit back twice as hard. Fight or flight is a basic component of human evolution. What can I say? I guess in the Trump family, the flight instinct never really developed.

  I began this book telling you I wasn’t mad. I’m still not. After all, there’s a lot to feel good about.

  I hear from people all the time how much better their lives are. Last Valentine’s Day, for instance, I took Kimberly to a nice restaurant on the upper East Side of New York City. Not exactly a bastion of conservatism. As the evening progressed, I could sense that all eyes were on us, and perhaps a scene would soon unfold. As we paid our tab, and made our way for the exit, a woman got up, pointed at me, and yelled, “You!” I thought, Here we go, here comes a fight with grandma on Valentine’s Day. And then it happened; she said to us and the entire restaurant, “You have the biggest balls in the world and you don’t take crap from anyone. Keep it up!” She broke the ice, as the entire place erupted in applause. In a room that I thought would be hostile and nasty, we found friendly supporters. It goes to show you, you never know where you might find a friendly voice. It took one person, with courage and conviction to break the ice and the rest followed.

  My dad has accomplished an incredible amount in the less than three years he’s been in office. Despite what you hear from the liberal media, those achievements have helped all Americans. As I write this, the job market is the best it’s ever been. For the first time, there are more jobs available than we need. It used to be people went out and looked for a job; now jobs are looking for people. It’s also the greatest time ever to get a better job than the one that you have. And the best time ever to start a career. Right now we have the lowest unemployment rate for both men and women in fifty years. We have the lowest unemployment rate ever for blacks, Latinos, and Asians, ever: 3.7 percent. Lowest youth unemployment in half a century, and veteran’s unemployment is the lowest in twenty years. Never before has there been a more pro–American worker president. His Pledge to America and its workers has resulted in employers committing to train more than 4 million Americans. DJT is committed to vocational education. Ninety-five percent of US manufacturers are optimistic about the future—the highest ever.

  President Obama once famously said that you would need a magic wand to bring back the manufacturing jobs lost during his administration. Well, abracadabra, Mr. Former President. The Trump administration has added 1 million manufacturing, construction, and energy jobs.

  In total, my father has added 6 million jobs to the market and, amazingly, 6.2 million people are off food stamps. What will the Democrats do if Americans start becoming self-sufficient? It certainly won’t be good for their failed policies!

  Still, if you subscribe to the liberal press bullshit, those gains are about to go up in a puff of smoke. As positive as my dad is about our roaring economy, the media is that much more negative and worse. More than once in the preceding pages, I’ve told you that the MSM hates my father more than they love America, and there is no better example of this than how they “cover” the impending doom they say is coming.

  Look, I’ve been in the marketplace my entire adult life. I know how it ebbs and flows. For the sake of millions of Americans who will suffer, however, I pray that a recession doesn’t happen. But if it does, you can lay the blame squarely on the propaganda machine of the left. Not only do they believe an economic downturn will help them win the White House, but it would also provide them with a depressed America, the perfect setting to implement their socialist plans. Remember what Bernie said: “There’s nothing wrong with breadlines.”

  The Democrats have also pledged to repeal my father’s tax cuts, which have been a godsend to the American middle class by doubling the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $2,000, doubling the standard deduction, and putting more than $2,000 back in the family wallet.

  And while Democrats are for open borders and health care for illegal immigrants, my father has budged not one inch on his immigration stance or his fight to build the wall. When you boil all the talking points down, what’s left are a few immutable facts. My dad wants to keep criminals and illegal drugs out of America. He wants to stop the unlawful immigrant drain on our social safety net. DJT’s not against immigrants. He just wants those who, like my Ethiopian friend from the Denver coffee shop, love America, not the ones who hate us. I don’t see how anyone can argue with that.

  Nor do I think anyone can argue with his eexecutive order to cut two regulations for every new one—the Trump administration is the first in decades to cut more regulations than it has added. By greenlighting the Keystone Pipeline and the Dakota Access pipeline and by lifting regulations on $50 trillion worth of energy reserves, my father has blown the doors off of energy production.

  After decades of inaction, my father has also taken the first steps toward a lasting peace in the Korean peninsula. Not that anyone will give him credit for it. One morning sitting with my two-year-old, Chloe, and having breakfast, we saw on television an “expert” on North Korea who was ridiculing and criticizing President Trump for his willingness to meet with the leader of North Korea. At that moment it dawned on me: my infant daughter has about the same level of success in achieving peace with North Korea as this expert on television.

  He took us out of the costly and ineffective Paris climate agreement. He’s gotten us out of lousy Obama and Clinton-era trade deals including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and NAFTA. He took us out of John Kerry’s horrendous Iran deal. He’s restored America’s respect on the world stage, and leaders around the globe know that the days of taking advantage of America are over.

  Let me make it easy on you; here are some more of his accomplishments:

  • The Trump administration is providing more affordable health care options for Americans through association health plans and short-term plans.

  • The FDA approved more affordable generic drugs than ever before in history. And thanks to our efforts, many drug companies are freezing or reversing planned price increases.

  • The administration has reformed the Medicare program to stop hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors on their drugs—saving seniors hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone.

  • My father signed Right to Try legislation, greenlighting experimental drugs for terminally ill people.

  • He’s secured $6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic.

  • He has reduced high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent during his first year in office.

  • He signed VA Choice Ac
t and VA Accountability Act, and he has expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.

  • He has done what no other president before him could: moved the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

  • No American president has ever appointed two conservative justices to the Supreme Court who are better than Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

  I could go on, but I think you get the point. Look, I get it. I know there are plenty of people out there who don’t like me and don’t like my father. But just because you don’t like the messengers doesn’t mean you have to hate the message. That message is making the lives of millions and millions of American safer, richer, and more hopeful, and it has accomplished that feat in three short years. Imagine what my father can do with another four.

  I got into politics by happenstance. Then I found that I liked the fight in it. But I’ve come to realize that it’s not just a fight for the sake of a fight. It’s even more than the daily battle with those who want to take my father and me down. It’s a fight for the happiness and well-being of my children and yours.

  That is what’s at stake in 2020. In one very big way, the next presidential election is more important than the last. When my dad campaigned in inner cities in 2016 he’d remind minority audiences how past administrations, including Obama’s, had failed them. He would then ask them to vote for him using this simple but brilliant logic: “What do you have to lose?”

  Their answer, if they were truthful about it, was nothing.

  Well, that’s not the case anymore. It’s not the case in inner cities, where the unemployment rate is at historic lows; it’s not the case in the suburbs, where tax cuts increased wages and retirement accounts have doubled in some cases; and, despite what you may read in the New York Times, it’s not the case in the Rust Belt and West Virginia, where he’s increased coal exports by 60 percent, or on America’s great expanse of farmland, where renegotiated trade deals have provided a friendly future.

  In this next election we have a lot to lose. From sea to shining sea, Americans across this great country of ours have a better life and more hope with Donald J. Trump in the White House.

  I’d thought about ending this book with something sarcastic; I’ve been told that I can be that way sometimes. But beneath this snarky and handsome (hey, I’m a Trump: What did you expect?) exterior there lies one enduring truth: and that’s my love of the United States of America.

  Let’s keep it great.

  At a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, a supporter presented me with a pretty clever hat: TRUMP 2020 NO BULLSHIT. (Vincent Remini)

  My father holding me as newborn.

  Early days—just shy of being one year old, with my mother, Ivana, in our apartment in New York City.

  Me with little Ivanka. As an older brother, I always looked out for her and continue to do so to this day though she clearly doesn’t need it.

  Eric, Ivanka, and I with Dad. We often visited him in the office during working hours as he worked to grow the company.

  In the Yankees dugout with dad and legendary Yankees manager Billy Martin. Dad would often take us to watch the games.

  When I graduated from the Hill School, I continued in the time-honored February tradition of jumping into the Dell, a pond on campus, with every other graduate. The tradition is much better when done voluntarily instead of being a wise guy 8th grader thrown in by seniors. Here I am soaking wet with Dad.

  Visiting Florida State, we were welcomed at a frat party after the game.

  Kai, Tristan, and I on the back of a pickup truck at the Florida-Georgia football game. It was one of Kai’s first public speaking engagements, and she had the crowd going.

  At a tailgate party hosted by by legendary GA player and alum Kevin “Catfish” Jackson in honor of the big Georgia game.

  Visiting the Navajo Indian reservation; they hadn’t thought anyone would show. The room was standing room only.

  One of the last Navajo Code Talkers, a true World War II hero and strong supporter of Donald J. Trump.

  In Trump Tower as we unfurled the campaign flag: Paige Scardigli, Kai Trump, Eric Trump, Kerry Woolard, Lynne Patton, Larry Glick, and I.

  On a swing in Arizona, Gentry Beach and I spotted a stalled vehicle at a busy intersection. It was over 100°F outside. The woman had no idea who we were as we helped push her vehicle off the road. Reporters tracked her down and wanted to know if it had all been staged. Obviously I would be incapable of doing anything decent.

  Pictured here watching election night results with dad in the kitchen of his apartment in Trump Tower are Eric, me, Steve Bannon and Reince Preibus. (Dan Scavino)

  An incredible moment in history. President-elect Trump accepting the concession call from Hillary Clinton. It’s a screenshot of a video that I took at 2:37 a.m., a moment that forever changed the course of history.

  With my good friend, now cochair of the Republican National Committee, Tommy Hicks.

  The entire Trump family on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the inaugural festivities. (Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images)

  The President and Kai waving during an inauguration event. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

  Dad, Barron, First Lady Melania Trump, Donnie, Arabella, Kai, and Tristan having dinner at the White House during inauguration week.

  Stepping off Air Force One in Washington after leaving Mar-a-Lago to attend Easter festivities at the White House. (Official White House photo)

  Tristan pretending to be on the phone while riding in the Beast during the inaugural parade. Perhaps he’s negotiating with North Korea.

  Donnie, Vanessa, Kai, and I in the Beast during the inaugural parade from the Capitol to the White House.

  With all of my children at the White House for the Easter egg roll. Spencer looks thrilled to be there.

  With my father, the President of the United States on Air Force One. (Official White House photo)

  Chloe wearing a US marine’s cover. She befriended a marine who was stationed at Blair House during inaugural week. Even he couldn’t keep up his stoic front around bubbly Chloe.

  Spencer and Donnie share my passion for the great outdoors. (Trig French)

  Trekking down a mountain in the Yukon Territory of Canada with a caribou rack. It took several trips to retrieve all the meat.

  Donnie and I hunting for wild turkey in the vicinity of Lake Okeechobee, Florida. (David McCleaf)

  Donnie and I off the coast of Florida, hoping for a sizable mahi-mahi.

  Ice fishing for rainbow trout with Chloe, Spencer, and Tristan in upstate New York.

  Kai with a great jack before we promptly released it. Hunters and fishermen are the best conservationists out there.

  Kai, Donnie, and I, after they completed getting their scuba diving certification.

  Donnie and I sharing a duck blind in south Texas.

  Having Kimberly with me at various events across the nation has been great! A very talented speaker, the crowds love her! (Trent Tidmore)

  Speaking at Turning Point USA in Washington, DC, one of the best youth groups in America, run by my friend Charlie Kirk. (Sergio Gor)

  Jared, Ivanka, Tiffany, Kimberly, and I back at the White House after hearing President Trump deliver a spectacular State of the Union address. (Official White House photo)

  With Jared, Eric, and Dad prior to being hosted for dinner by Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace.

  Dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Kimberly Guilfoyle, Sergio Gor, Tommy Hicks, Dad, and Charlie Kirk.