How Trump's Kids Reacted to 2020 Election Result, According to Filmmaker

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Three of Donald Trump's adult children had varying reactions after he lost the 2020 presidential election, split between angrily accepting the results and "denial," according to a documentary filmmaker who had access to the family around that time.

Alex Holder, whose three-part docuseries Unprecedented premieres July 10 on the Discovery+ streaming service, described how there was a "mixture" of reactions from Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. in the wake of their father's loss to Joe Biden.

Holder had spent months with the Trump family towards the end of the 2020 election campaign, as well as the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The House select committee investigating the riot subpoenaed Holder to hand over all footage related to Unprecedented as part of the inquiry.

Speaking to Business Insider, Holder described the different reactions from each of the former president's children in the aftermath of the election being declared for Biden.

trump children 2020 election
A documentary filmmaker with access to the Trump family described how former President Donald Trump's children reacted to his loss in the 2020 presidential election. Above, Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump listen... MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

"There was an attitude that one of them would give which was sort of incredibly bitter and angry about the end result," Holder told the outlet. "And then there were the other children who were totally in denial and would not even refer or discuss or engage with anything to do with the fact that they were no longer in the White House and the catastrophe that had taken place earlier."

While Holder did not attribute any description, they do fall in line with how each of Trump's children reportedly reacted in the wake of the 2020 election results.

Donald Trump Jr. is alleged to have texted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about having "multiple paths" to keeping his father in power on November 5, 2020.

Eric Trump is also alleged to have suggested that the potential of violence stemming from the former president's rhetoric and false election fraud claims was "fair game," Holder previously told The Independent.

In comparison, Ivanka Trump testified to the January 6 committee that she had "accepted" former Attorney General Bill Barr's and the Department of Justice's assessment that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud during the last presidential election.

However, footage from Holder's documentary is said to feature a clip of Ivanka Trump in December 2020 stating that her father should "continue to fight until every legal remedy is exhausted" with regards to the election results, The New York Times reported.

Holder, who has already spoken with the January 6 panel, confirmed on June 21 that he is willing to comply with the subpoena calling for all footage related to Unprecedented to be handed over.

"As a British filmmaker, I had no agenda coming into this. We simply wanted to better understand who the Trumps were and what motivated them to hold onto power so desperately," Holder said in a statement. "We have dutifully handed over all the materials the Committee has asked for and we are fully cooperating."

Newsweek reached out to the Trump Organization for comment.

About the writer

Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida news. He joined Newsweek in February 2018 after spending several years working at the International Business Times U.K., where he predominantly reported on crime, politics and current affairs. Prior to this, he worked as a freelance copywriter after graduating from the University of Sunderland in 2010. Languages: English. Email: e.palmer@newsweek.com.


Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more