Trump instilled 'competitive' nature in kids by tripping them while they were skiing, Ivanka Trump says

Whether he's facing off against a global pandemic or his 10-year-old children, President Trump has always wanted to win.

Trump has turned coronavirus into a global competition over the past few weeks, particularly bragging about how much better the U.S. is supposedly doing than South Korea when it comes to COVID-19 testing. But about 25 years ago, Trump was more fond of racing his young children down ski hills and apparently trying to trip them in the process, they told New York Magazine in a December 2004 article.

The oldest Trump children have had a healthy dose of "sibling rivalry" in their lives since they were young, and it stems from their father, New York Magazine writes. "We were sort of bred to be competitive," Ivanka Trump said at the time. "Dad encourages it. I remember skiing with him and we were racing. I was ahead, and he reached his ski pole out and pulled me back." Eric Trump has a similar memory: "He would try to push me over, just so he could beat his 10-year-old son down the mountain," he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

No matter how many times the Trump kids ended up face-down in the snow, they're all united behind their father today. Read more of their throwback thoughts at New York Magazine.