The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said on Friday that he should not attend the wedding of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, because he needs to stay in Washington to handle government matters.
“Although I would dearly have liked to be with my son, Don Jr., and with the newest member of the Trump family, his future wife Bettina, the circumstances relating to the government and my love for the United States of America do not allow me to do so,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“I feel that it is important that I remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House, during this important period,” the post continued.
The wedding has been scheduled for this weekend on a small island in the Bahamas, CNN said on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the plans. The couple had already formalized the union, according to a marriage license filed in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Thursday.
A spokesman for Trump Jr. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The president had told reporters on Thursday that Trump Jr. wanted his father’s presence, but it would be a “small private matter.” Trump said then that he would try to attend the wedding, but the timing was not right for him.
“I have something called Iran and other things,” Trump said on Thursday.
The U.S. government is involved in diplomatic negotiations mediated by Pakistan aimed at securing an agreement to end the war with Iran started by the United States and Israel on February 28.
Trump had originally planned to spend the night at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this Friday, after an event in the Hudson Valley, in New York, but is now expected to return to the White House, according to a schedule change released on Friday afternoon.
