President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is engaged to socialite Bettina Anderson.
The president shared the news at the White House on Monday, Dec. 15. According to a political source, the engagement has been welcomed by Trump, 79, who had grown less enthusiastic about his son’s previous fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
“The president is happy with the way Bettina looks, and wants his son to be satisfied in his next mate,” the source says. “The Trumps were happy with [Don Jr.’s first wife] Vanessa, and also with Kim at first until she became a grandstander and attempted to put too much media and MAGA attention on herself.”
A spokesperson for Guilfoyle was contacted for comment on the allegation.
Don Jr. and Guilfoyle became engaged in 2020 after about two years of dating. The two never publicly confirmed a split, but the relationship appeared to shift by late 2024, when it emerged that Don Jr. and Anderson had been quietly seeing each other for roughly six months.
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Before Guilfoyle, Don Jr. was married to Vanessa Trump for 12 years. Vanessa filed for divorce in 2018, though she continues to appear at some family events. The former couple share five children: Kai, 18; Donald III, 16; Tristan, 14; Spencer, 13; and Chloe, 11.
The same political source said Trump was initially cautious about Anderson, but that she eventually adapted to the family’s expectations.
“At first Bettina’s eagerness to join forces with the Trumps was off-putting to the president, but she has toned down, realizing that she has to look beautiful, stand still, and be subordinate to anything the Trumps do,” the source says. “She has managed to mellow out enough to be accepted.”
Another source from Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach club, said the timing of the proposal surprised some in their circle. Don Jr., 47, and Anderson, 39, announced their engagement about a year after news of his split from Guilfoyle, 56, became public.
“I thought a proposal was going to be later, but not too early for Bettina,” the club source says. “This is what she wanted all along, and she is happy.”
Don Jr. and Anderson were first spotted together at brunch in August 2024, in photos published by the Daily Mail. At the time, he was still widely believed to be engaged to Guilfoyle. On Dec. 9, 2024, he was photographed holding hands with Anderson during an evening stroll in Palm Beach, Fla. The Daily Mail reported they were celebrating Anderson’s birthday.
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On Dec. 10 — one day after those photos surfaced — Trump announced on Truth Social that Guilfoyle would be nominated as U.S. ambassador to Greece. The Senate later confirmed her nomination in September.
Around the time of that nomination, a source said the Trump family was unhappy with Guilfoyle and claimed she “always wants the limelight.” The same source added that while Don Jr. and Guilfoyle were no longer together, the family intended to offer her a role that would keep her satisfied.
After Trump’s announcement, a political source said Don Jr. and Anderson were eager to move forward without Guilfoyle nearby.
“Bettina wants Kim out of the area,” the source said, adding, “They are trying to send Kim abroad. They waited for the election to pass but they didn’t want the split to get in the way of anything to hurt Donald in the election.”
In the weeks that followed, Anderson appeared as Don Jr.’s guest at the Trump family’s New Year’s Eve celebration at Mar-a-Lago. She then joined him for Trump’s presidential inauguration in January 2025. A source later described the pairing as a strong match.
More recently, another source said Don Jr. hosted an elaborate birthday celebration for Anderson.
“Bettina said they are really in love and so happy together,” the source says. “He gave her a beautiful birthday party, and does nice things for her to show his affection.”
Anderson is the daughter of philanthropists Harry Loy Anderson Jr. and Inger Anderson. She works as an advocate for Audrey Gruss’ mental health foundation, Hope for Depression Research Foundation.
She has also been affiliated with Project Paradise, a Florida conservation effort, and has spent time with the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County “every week,” according to a Palm Beach insider.
