Fact Check: Did Trump skip Don Jr’s Bahamas wedding because he was banned from the island?
WASHINGTON, DC: Amid speculation surrounding President Donald Trump’s absence from his elder son Donald Trump Jr’s wedding on an island in the Bahamas, a rumor began circulating on social media platforms claiming that Trump was banned from the island due to a criminal conviction against him.
Let us fact-check the claim.
Claim: Trump was banned from the Bahamas
The wedding between Donald Trump Jr and Bettina Anderson took place on May23 during a private ceremony on a small island in the Bahamas. The marriage was formalized after paperwork was filed and a legal ceremony was held in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The private ceremony was attended by a small group of close family and friends, including Trump Jr’s siblings, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, and Tiffany Trump, along with their spouses and his five children. Anderson’s close family and friends were also present.
Noting the absence of President Trump and first lady Melania Trump from the ceremony, social media users began speculating that Trump was absent because he had been banned from entering the Bahamas, referencing the E Jean Carroll civil case, in which the president was found liable.
Fact Check: False, no evidence to back the viral claim
The claim, however, is unfounded, and there is no evidence that Trump was criminally convicted.
Explaining his absence from the ceremony to reporters earlier in the week and in a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump said the timing conflicted with pressing government matters, including developments related to Iran.
"He’d like me to go, but it’s going to be just a small little private affair, and I’m going to try and make it," he told reporters.
“This is not good timing for me,” he added. “Everything called Iran and other things.”
Trump congratulated the couple in a Truth Social post on Saturday, stating, “While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr, and the newest member of the Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so."
He added that he believed it was important to remain in the capital “during this important time."
A fact check by Grok stated, “Trump hasn't been criminally convicted of any offense, the E Jean Carroll case was a civil liability finding, not a criminal one qualifying him as a offender under typical entry rules."
"He explicitly cited government duties (Iran tensions and more) for staying in DC instead of attending the Bahamas wedding. No evidence of any entry denial risk."
