The ruthless rise of Bettina Trump: She takes selfies with the President and comforts ‘tense’ Don Jr… but there are red flags her new family cannot ignore

As President Trump arrived at Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the President of Ireland in Dublin last weekend, pride of place was given to his son Don Jr and the latest addition to the family, his new wife Bettina.

They stood on a red carpet, first to be introduced to the country’s president Catherine Connolly. Further down the line were three of Don Jr’s children, including daughter Chloe, 12, and, at the far end, loyal presidential aide Natalie Harp.

If Bettina, 39, was nervous about this appearance on the world stage, she didn’t show it. In a power trait reminiscent of the First Lady, she wore her tailored coat around her shoulders as a cape. Indeed, if it was a try-out, then the new Mrs Trump seemed all in.

‘She was looking pretty comfortable,’ a source close to Bettina told the Daily Mail. ‘She was also showcasing her relationship with Trump, taking mirror selfies of herself and Chloe with the President on the plane. She was really leaning into it.’

Her ascendance into the rarefied inner circle appears complete. A photograph on her Instagram showed Bettina taking a selfie of the President, Chloe and herself standing in front of a mirror on a wall above a sink – a humble-brag of sorts perhaps given how intimate the scene. There was also a picture of her sitting opposite Trump on an aircraft looking out the window on the Emerald Isle.

On the ground too, there were some small, but very telling, signals between Bettina and Don Jr that, to keen observers, suggested an intriguing shift in their dynamic, and Mrs Trump’s growing confidence in her public role.

‘Before their wedding in May, Bettina often appeared to take Don’s lead, while he sported the puffed chest and tendency to dominate the spotlight of his alpha-posturing father,’ body language expert Judi James told the Daily Mail.

‘As the family group lined up outside to be introduced to the President of Ireland though, it was Bettina smiling serenely and rotating in the direction of the cameras and chatting in what looked like a very confident bid to be visible.’

Don Jr, 48, on the other hand, sometimes looked ‘tense’ and his occasional smiles tended to be sudden and quick ‘lightning smiles’ rather than Bettina’s more relaxed variety, James said.

According to lip reader Nicola Hickling, Bettina seemed concerned that the children were alright. Her husband, smiling, told her: ‘Don’t worry about it, they always fidget.’

He then waved his hand down the line, and said: ‘Are you okay, Chloe?’

Shortly after, Bettina flicked her hand against her husband’s waist and, according to Hickling, said: ‘Hold hands.’

Don Jr immediately unclasped his hands from in front of him and reached out to his wife.

According to James, as Bettina took his hand, she stroked it with her thumb in what appeared to be a ‘soothing gesture of loving reassurance,’ or a tacit reward.

While the trip was undoubtedly successful, problems awaited the couple when they arrived back in America.

Shortly after Air Force One returned, ProPublica published a story detailing how Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin, had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the Trumps’ post-wedding celebrations in the Bahamas.

For Bettina, it was a first big PR test. She and her husband doubled down in a statement, delivered on her Instagram, declaring they were ‘incredibly grateful’ to their ‘dear friend Umar’ and would not be apologetic or embarrassed about it.

‘Friendship doesn’t require a political motive,’ they said. ‘Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda.

‘So, for anyone determined not to let the facts get in the way of a good story: NO CONSPIRACY, NO MYSTERY. Just a private family wedding, a wonderful weekend with friends and one hell of a party.’

Still, on Friday Trump told reporters that his son had assured him he planned to pay the Russian back. 

The controversy could prove a bump in the road for the latest addition to the first family, and a lesson that, in the political world, friends sometimes need to be chosen carefully.

In her previous incarnation as a prominent Palm Beach socialite, friends have always been very important to the former Bettina Anderson.

A profile in Avenue Magazine once said of her: ‘Every town has an ‘It’ girl and in Palm Beach it’s Anderson.’

In another profile, in Fashion Week Daily in 2022, she was asked what she was most proud of.

‘I think I’m most proud of the incredible network of people I am blessed to have,’ she said. ‘And my ability to create connections and make introductions and put people together professionally and socially.’

A source, who has known Bettina for decades, told the Daily Mail she exudes class, but has always been ‘hungry for more.’

‘She would buy an outfit for an event, and go back and forth, saying, this isn’t good enough, I need something better. She kind of just did that with her life,’ the source said.

Perhaps in keeping with that reputation, Bettina wore not one, but two dresses for her wedding and celebrations. Both were by London-based designer Safiyaa, a favorite of Catherine, Princess of Wales no less.

Bettina worked closely with founder Daniela Karnuts and the embroidery for her evening dress – a ‘bespoke double silk organza set fully embellished with crystal, metallic, and silk’ – took 150 hours, according to Safiyaa.

But however beautiful the dresses and the moment, there is no escaping the fact that recent revelations about the Russia-linked Bahamas farrago could not have emerged at a worse time for the GOP, coming as they did, just weeks ahead of the midterms.

In the febrile pre-election atmosphere it has become, for some Republicans behind the scenes, a point of genuine unease. They regard it as an inexplicable self-inflicted wound.

With voters beset by rising gas prices and food costs, the last thing Republican candidates need to be defending on the doorstep is a lavish Russian-funded party in the Bahamas.

It has also reminded some MAGA loyalists of Bettina’s historic social media posts.

She is a registered Republican but, in 2020 during the pandemic, she posted an image of herself wearing a mask with a sign that read: ‘Only you can stop the spread of ignorance.’

She also posted a blacked-out screen that social media users were using as a signal of support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The wedding party controversy is also a distraction from what the President wants to talk about, including tax cuts and immigration enforcement.

While he has insisted it is ‘no big deal,’ many in his party do not agree.

And one of those who does not appear to view Kremlev as a ‘dear friend’ is the other Mrs Trump – the First Lady.

Melania has led a successful campaign to reunite children kidnapped from Ukraine and taken to Russia during the ongoing war. As of August, the campaign has reunified 34 children with their families in Ukraine.

In a noticeably frosty statement, her spokesperson said: ‘Mrs Trump does not, and has never had, a relationship with Mr Kremlev.

‘Mrs Trump played no role whatsoever in organizing the wedding event and was not privy to any aspect of its financial planning.’

Melania was not in the Bahamas for the celebrations and, therefore, did not meet Kremlev.

She could have remained silent amid the storm, as she often does, but her decision to publicly distance herself is perhaps a sign of how much the episode is reverberating in Trump world.

A source familiar with how Don Jr and Bettina met told the Daily Mail they were introduced by his ex-wife Vanessa, who is now in a relationship with Tiger Woods.

Since the wedding, President Trump himself jokingly said he had noticed a change in Don Jr.

‘My son Don is here,’ he said in Ireland. ‘He’s calmed down so much. He’s like a different human being. He had a lot of energy. Now he’s a little less energy.’

Did he also perhaps notice that Don Jr was looking sharper?

According to a medical spa in Palm Beach, the first son had Ultherapy to ‘naturally define his jawline’ ahead of the wedding.

Ultherapy is a non-invasive skin-lifting treatment meant to improve skin laxity, performed by an FDA-cleared ultrasound device.

The procedure typically costs upwards of $2,000 for one session.

The spa, Pure Skin Palm Beach, said Bettina had been going there for five years and had become a ‘dear friend.’

It said preparations for the wedding began months before and Bettina had also done Ultherapy, along with a host of other treatments including Sculptra, Renuva, MOXI, Tixel, laser hair removal and ariessence pure PDGF+.

There were ‘regenerative hair restoration, customized facials, wrinkle relaxers and wellness IV therapy,’ and ‘we even rejuvenated her hands’ to help show off her wedding ring.

‘Coordinating treatments around a demanding travel schedule and public appearances required meticulous planning, allowing every result to peak beautifully for her wedding day,’ the medical spa wrote in the caption.

With such a focus on attention to detail for the big day, perhaps it is unfair of anonymous Republican snipers to ask whether Bettina should have been aware of the optics of accepting the largesse of her husband’s Russian friend.

After all, she probably has not seen the video from last month of Kremlev palling around and clinking champagne glasses with Putin in St Catherine Hall at the Kremlin.

The Russian President awarded him the Order of Friendship for his work as head of the International Boxing Association (IBA).

She may also not have known that, between the Kremlin and the Bahamas party, ‘dear Umar’ found time to travel to China while Putin was on a state visit there.

The intriguing relationship between Kremlev and Don Jr can be traced back at least one year to September 2025, when they appeared on stage together at the IBA Sport and Business Forum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Trump Jr, Executive Vice-President of The Trump Organization, sat between Kremlev on his right, and Rasheda Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali’s daughter, to his left.

‘I am proud to stand here with my friend Donald Trump Jr, who shares this belief that fairness, respect and integrity are the foundations of sport,’ Kremlev told the audience, according to an IBA statement.

‘Together, we will protect the transparency of boxing and open the door for the next generation.’

According to the IBA account of the event, Trump Jr said: ‘What Umar is doing – restoring actual fairness, bringing back the purity of boxing, and giving the youth of today a chance to step away from the computer and into the ring – is extraordinary.

‘This is not just about boxing; it’s about life lessons, discipline, integrity and opportunity. That’s the legacy we need, and I am proud to call Umar not only a leader but a friend.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Don Jr and Bettina for comment. 

Representatives for Kremlev told ProPublica he and Trump Jr met a couple of years ago and have a ‘friendly relationship.’

They said: ‘Mr Kremlev has never discussed political matters with any of his American friends and acquaintances.’

Certainly, that is the line Bettina has held to, pushing back on detractors this week in a statement some might view as faintly naïve – others might view as a quiet indicator that there’s a new Mrs Trump in town, and she’s no pushover.