Donald Trump has a funny way of acknowledging his family members or so he thinks. The president either ignores the people he’s related to entirely or pours on so much praise that it sounds rehearsed. And then there’s how he talks about his five kids — including the one child who somehow ma nages to be visible and forgotten at the same time. That awkward dynamic was on full display during a recent dedication ceremony in Palm Beach, where a stretch of Southern Boulevard was renamed “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.” US President Donald Trump (C) poses with his sons Eric Trump (R) and Donald Trump Jr. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) ‘What a POS’: Trump’s Golf Club Under Fire After Employees Say They Were Forced to Serve Certain Guests While Wearing ‘Tight’ Clothes While delivering remarks, Trump paused to shout out his third child, Eric Trump, launching into a glowing monologue that sounded less like a dad talking about his son and more like someone thanking a loyal staffer. “We have Eric Trump right here. Great guy. He’s a great young guy, and he’s done a fantastic job. When I’m away, I don’t know — I’ve looked at, I see things happening all over the world — and him, the whole family has been so terrific. But Eric has been right there at the front, and I appreciate it very much. He’s a great boy. We love that boy. We love that boy. Thank you, honey. Appreciate it,” Trump said. It wasn’t the compliment that tripped people up. It was the delivery. Trump appeared to consult his notes before praising his own son, speaking with the assurance of someone double-checking facts about a person he didn’t quite trust his memory on. Threads lit up almost immediately, with users noting that Eric is 41 years old and has two children. “Have you ever given him a hug? I’m guessing not,” one person wrote. View on Threads “He forgot who Eric was for a minute there,” another joked. “I don’t think he’s ever used the words ‘my son’ to describe any of his boys—so odd,” someone else observed. Others leaned fully into the discomfort. “I think he forgot that Eric is his own kid. I half expected him to say ‘Hey, my last name is Trump too,’” one user posted. Another added, “WTAF? it just gets weirder and weirder every day.” One commenter couldn’t get past the pet names: “What’s with him calling people honey today? First Loomer, now his own son?” For longtime observers, the moment revived old questions about where Eric actually ranks in the Trump family hierarchy. Eric himself once shared a story that still circulates online like folklore. While promoting his book “Under Siege,” he recalled reminding his mother about his high school graduation, only to be told it conflicted with the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. “Every f—king moron graduates from high school. Get over it,” Ivana Trump reportedly said. She didn’t attend. Eric has always insisted there was love there, but stories like that help explain why people are so quick to read into moments like the Palm Beach speech. The contrast becomes sharper when Eric is compared to Ivanka Trump, who for years was Trump’s undisputed favorite. Trump often speaks about Ivanka with a level of enthusiasm that made even supporters uncomfortable, routinely praising her looks, her intelligence, and her presence as if she were a prized extension of his brand. Last November, while talking about his children on “The Ingraham Angle,” he could not contain his affection for his eldest daughter. “Eric is very good? And Don, in a very different way, is good,” he started off saying before talking about his heart— “Ivanka is …” Trailing off, he pivoted from one daughter and his youngest to the next without finishing his sentence. “You know, Tiffany’s very smart. She’s been — she was a great student, always a great student. They’re all great students actually. They’re all great students. And I think Baron’s going to be tremendous at that. Yeah, he’s very meticulous,” the former real estate tycoon said. Barron Trump is his youngest child and only one with his current wife, Melania. The 6-foot-9 teenager occupies a different lane entirely. Trump often speaks about Barron not only with affection, but with projection — his height, his potential, his future. The NYU student is treated less like a child and more like a concept, a hypothetical heir who might one day carry the Trump name forward in some grand way, a way different than Eric or Donald Trump. <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qep9dF75tWk?si=ylCzWdiiOxx7LeWi” title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe> When Trump talks about Barron, it’s rarely about who he is now, but who he might become. Taken together, the pattern is hard to miss. Ivanka and Barron are star kiddies. Donald Jr and Tiffany have their lane. And Eric, standing right in front of his father, still gets introduced like someone who was unfamiliar to the president. For critics and those Eric Trump sympathizers, Trump checking his notes while praising his own son wasn’t just a slip — it felt like an unfiltered glimpse into how their family really is. ‘He Forgot Who Eric Was’: Trump Tries to Name His Kids, Checks His Notes, and Somehow Ends Up on a ‘Good Ol’ Boy’ Rant ...read more read less