Donald Trump Jr. is engaged to Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump told attendees at a White House holiday party Monday night that his eldest son, Donald Jr., is engaged to Bettina Anderson, a Palm Beach socialite.

Andrew Surabian, a spokesperson for the younger Trump, confirmed the engagement.

The president’s announcement threw a spotlight on a relationship that had long been the subject of tabloid speculation. Last December, the British tabloid The Daily Mail published photos of the younger Trump, 47, and Anderson holding hands in Palm Beach. Kimberly Guilfoyle, then Donald Jr.’s fiancee, was named as his father’s choice to be ambassador to Greece hours later.

Guilfoyle was sworn in as the Greek ambassador in September and was dispatched to her post in Athens last month.

Donald Trump Jr., who runs the Trump Organization alongside his brother Eric, has plowed ahead with a yawning list of business ventures capitalizing on his family name and proximity to the president. And he has frequently appeared in public alongside Anderson since his father’s return to office.

It is the third time the younger Trump has been engaged. He proposed to his first wife, Vanessa in 2004, and the two were married at Mar-a-Lago in 2005. At the time of their engagement, Trump accepted a ring from the Bailey Banks & Biddle jewelry store in Short Hills, New Jersey, in exchange for publicity, recreating his proposal in a New Jersey mall. Trump filed for divorce in 2018.

Guilfoyle, Trump’s second fiancee, was a prominent Republican surrogate during their relationship, and gave speeches at the 2020 and 2024 Republican conventions. By 2024, speculation had already been swirling about Anderson’s closeness to Trump, and the socialite was seen sitting behind the engaged couple at the Republican National Convention that July.