Donald Trump Jr. and Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson have decided to tie the knot over Memorial Day weekend, opting for a more intimate ceremony rather than the previously considered grand White House celebration. This change comes amidst concerns that a lavish affair could overshadow his father, amid ongoing wartime circumstances.
The couple, with Trump Jr. being 48 and Anderson 39, had initially planned to postpone their wedding until the fall. Their decision was influenced by the potential backlash from hosting a high-profile event during the Iran war, which might have provided critics with ammunition against President Trump.
However, with the conflict showing no signs of resolution, they chose not to delay any further. Instead, the pair will host a smaller, more exclusive gathering of close family and friends during the holiday weekend.
“They want to have a very private, intimate event. It will be quite lovely,” a source revealed to the Daily Mail.
The guest list is expected to be limited to family and perhaps some close college friends, those who share a special bond with the couple. The venue, described as having limited space, will not accommodate a large crowd.
Interestingly, despite the familial connection, President Trump is not currently expected to attend. However, as the source noted, “You never know with him, of course. Maybe he will drop in. He’s been known to do those kinds of things.”
The friend continued: ‘Bettina and Don Jr are very anxious to maintain secrecy and control over this.
‘They had the engagement at Camp David, which was really controlled. And they want to maintain that level of control with the wedding.’
Donald Trump Jr and Bettina Anderson on the 18th green after the final round of LIV Golf Miami at Trump National Doral in April 2025
(L-R) Lara Trump, Bettina Anderson, Tiffany and Ivanka Trump at Anderson’s bridal shower last month
The friend added: ‘I think this is something they just want to get through, get it done. So they can get on with their lives, move on to the next chapters for all the things they want to achieve. And in due time I understand there will be a small celebration at the White House where clearly President Trump will be involved.’
It was reported by the New York Post that the wedding will take place in the Bahamas.
The couple started dating in late 2024, just as Don Jr broke off his engagement to former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, now the US Ambassador to Greece.
The Trump scion popped the question to Anderson, daughter of philanthropists Harry Loy Anderson Jr. and Inger Anderson, at Camp David in December 2025, while they were celebrating her birthday.
The wedding day comes just weeks after Bettina held an opulent bridal shower attended by her future sisters-in-law at Mar-a-Lago.
Ivanka Trump posted photos from the event on Instagram, writing she was ‘so grateful to share this joyous moment.’
Bettina wore a strapless tea-length white dress with delicate silver floral embroidery on the top.
The bride-to-be paired that with $1,500 satin slingback pumps with a crystal toe by designer Manolo Blahnik.
Ivanka, 44, led the posse of presidential family women, including her daughter Arabella, 14, her sister-in-law Lara, 43, sister Tiffany, 32, and Don Jr’s golf protege daughter Kai, 18.
Donald Trump Jr and fiancée Bettina Anderson’s lavish wedding plans are now on hold as global tensions mount, insiders tell the Daily Mail
Ivanka, 44, (right) led the posse of presidential family women at Andeson’s (center) bridal shower, including her daughter Arabella, 14, (left) her sister-in-law Lara, 43, (second from left) and sister Tiffany, 32, (second from right)
Trump’s second wife Marla Maples also enjoyed the celebration, but First Lady Melania, 55, was missing.
At one point, the President’s son dropped in with a massive red floral bouquet and planted a kiss on his future second wife.
The couple kept their relationship largely under wraps for months as Don Jr still officially lived in a $17.5 million waterfront mansion with fiancée Guilfoyle, the 57-year-old former wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
However, the Daily Mail spotted them in August, 2024, canoodling during an intimate brunch date at The Honor Bar, located in Palm Beach’s swanky Royal Poinciana Plaza.
In what was clearly no business meeting, the society ‘it girl’ was seen reaching over three times to plant a kiss on her new beau’s lips.
‘She seemed totally smitten with Don – and he with her,’ a witness told us at the time.
‘They were definitely on a date. They weren’t exactly making out, but the kisses were romantic and you could tell they were intimate with each other.’
The day after the cozy meal, Don Jr was seen with Guilfoyle as the MAGA Boat Parade passed by their six-bedroom, 11-bathroom home in the high-security Admiral’s Cove community in Jupiter, 20 miles north of Mar-a-Lago.
However, following our story of Don Jr and Anderson at brunch, pals of GOP stalwart Guilfoyle revealed she had been blindsided.
‘Kimberly either didn’t know about Bettina – or didn’t want to know,’ said one. ‘Did she hear whispers that Don Jr was fooling around with someone else? Probably.
‘She’s no fool, but it’s easy to deceive yourself when you’re so committed to someone and believe he’s committed to you.’
Four months later, exclusive photos showed Don Jr flaunting the new relationship as the couple walked hand in hand from downtown Palm Beach eatery Buccan during her 38th birthday celebrations.
The images were proof the now First Son had moved on from Guilfoyle, who took up her diplomatic post in Athens in November 2025.
Dressed in a smart blue suit and white shirt open at the neck, Don Jr revealed no compunction about showing off his new flame as they emerged from the restaurant just before 10pm.
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The couple announced their engagement at the White House holiday party in December
Anderson’s engagement ring is an eight-carat emerald-cut diamond ring designed by Dallas jeweler Sue Gragg of Sue Gragg Precious Jewels, with experts saying it may have been bigger and more valuable than the one Trump Jr gave Guilfoyle in 2022
They came out with another couple and he could be heard laughing before they bade the others farewell and headed across the street to his vehicle.
Anderson stayed close to her man as they approached his pickup truck parked directly opposite the restaurant, their fingers interlocked.
At the time, the couple were spending nights at Anderson’s $860,000 townhouse in West Palm Beach, a mile from Mar-a-Lago and which she still owns according to property records.
The restaurant outing on a Monday came at the end of an extravagant December weekend of celebration that marked growing acceptance into the Trump fold.
On the Friday she enjoyed a magnificent birthday dinner that included a bottle of 2013 Salon champagne, which typically costs $1,300.
Posting a social media image of the super-expensive fizz being poured by a waiter, she wrote: ‘S is for Spoiled’.
And in a clear reference to her new beau, she added: ‘How sweet it is to be loved by you’, accompanied by the James Taylor song. In a further message, she wrote: ‘IYKYK’, meaning, ‘If you know, you know’.
Don Jr sent his new love a card saying, ‘I think you’re perfect’.
The Daily Mail exclusively revealed Don and Bettina were a couple in December, 2024, as we pictured them walking hand in hand after a romantic dinner in Palm Beach, Florida, celebrating her birthday
But the piece de resistance of the celebration was an astonishing 19-inch, Y-shaped diamond necklace in 18 carat white gold and with more than 100 jewels weighing a total of 28.27 carats. Similar baubles fetch well over $100,000.
Anderson was born in Palm Beach with a twin sister, the daughter of the late Harry Loy Anderson, who became the country’s youngest bank president when he took the helm of Worth Avenue National Bank at 26.
Mother Inger, 75, still lives in an $11.5million home in an exclusive section of the mega-rich enclave.
Statuesque Bettina co-founded The Paradise Fund with her two brothers Kent and Harry Loy III in 2005. The charity supports children worldwide through humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
She attended Palm Beach Day School and then St Andrew’s School in nearby Boca Raton, where fees run to more than $72,000 for the most senior boarders.
Next it was a BA in Art History, Criticism and Conservation from Columbia in New York City, where she lived for a further three years before returning home and starting her ascent to become an essential part of Palm Beach’s exclusive social circuit – and part of America’s First Family.
