Donald Trump Jr. Sucks Up to Daddy Donald Despite Wedding Snub

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's press team called out newlywed Donald Trump Jr. for defending his father's sports knowledge while the president skipped his son's wedding in the Bahamas to Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson due to government business, only to announce later plans to attend an NBA Finals game.

The recent clash escalated the drama surrounding the wedding snub and the president's sports expertise.

He cited Memorial Day weekend government responsibilities and the war in Iran. However, critics and political rivals quickly jumped on the fact that he was eyeing a trip to the golf course and the NBA Finals instead.

Trump told reporters that he was planning to attend Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but that never happened when his hometown team secured its spot in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

“I was invited – I was going to go on Wednesday, but they closed it out very quickly,” Trump told ABC News. “Jim Dolan, as you know, owns and is in charge of Madison Square Garden, and is having a great year. What a team! I think I’ll be going to one of their games.”

Hochul's office quickly used the wedding snub against him, replying directly to Don Jr.'s sports post with a single, pointed jab: "Crazy he [the president] has time to go [to] a basketball game but not your wedding.”

Hochul attempted to mock Trump's fandom by challenging him to name the starting lineup of the "1993 Knicks championship team,” but it backfired; the Knicks did not win a championship in 1993; their last title was in 1973.

Trump Jr. fired back at Hochul over her remarks, aggressively defending his father's expertise in sports.

He dubiously posted on social media that anyone who knows his father knows he is a fountain of knowledge about sports.

"Anyone who knows my father knows he probably knows more about Sports than just about any human being not in the business," Trump Jr. wrote. "Kathy’s failed soundbite ain’t gonna land well… just like her policies."

Trump Jr. claimed the governor’s flub was a "4D chess move" to bait the president.

While the president’s family asserts he possesses elite knowledge, his public commentary reveals a blend of deep historical recall and factual inaccuracies about modern rules.

Trump claimed that Olympic sports were dying out because universities "put all their money into football." Sports economists immediately corrected this, pointing out that college football and men's basketball programs actually generate the revenue that subsidizes and saves Olympic sports.

During a college sports roundtable, Trump mistakenly claimed that college athletics had "no salary cap" while the NFL did. Fact-checkers noted he reversed reality: the NCAA explicitly bans direct university salaries, whereas Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) collectives operate outside traditional hard team salary caps.

In early May, Trump launched an inquiry into NFL media rights, complaining incorrectly that fragmented streaming models could force common fans to pay "$1,000 a game." The NFL defended its strategy, noting that over 87 percent of games remain completely free on local broadcast television.