MS NOW host Jen Psaki hit back at Eric Trump during Friday’s episode of her show after he threatened to sue her and the network over her comments about his business interests.
President Donald Trump’s son accused Psaki of “blatant lies” in a post on X after Psaki questioned whether him joining the president’s trip to China posed a conflict of interest during Thursday’s episode of The Briefing with Jen Psaki.
She cited reporting by the Financial Times that reported that Alt5 Sigma, a company with ties to Eric Trump, was pursuing a deal to build data centers in the U.S. with a Chinese chipmaker that U.S. lawmakers have warned is connected to the ruling Communist Party.
Psaki said on Thursday’s episode that Eric Trump is “supposed to be sort of fire-walled off from any U.S. government activities because he took over the family businesses when his father re-entered the White House supposedly to prevent conflicts of interest, but there he is.”
In his post, Eric Trump said he has never been on the board of Alt5, has “zero business interests in China” and only joined the trip “as a loving son who adores my father.”
Psaki responded on her show on Friday, noting among other things, that Eric Trump was introduced as a board member of Alt5 during a Nasdaq opening bell ceremony in August last year.
Newsweek has contacted Eric Trump, MS Now and the White House for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
Business Deal Scrutiny
Trump and his family members have long faced scrutiny over possible conflicts of interests, with critics accusing them of using the office of the presidency to enrich themselves.
The Trump family has drawn criticism for expanding its real estate business, led by Eric Trump and his brother Donald Jr., into foreign countries that are trying to curry favor with the president and for making billions of dollars off cryptocurrency ventures benefiting from his policies.
Eric Trump Says He’ll Sue
Eric Trump wrote on X that he intends to sue Psaki and MS NOW over her comments on Thursday’s episode of her show.
“Contrary to her monolog and blatant lies, I have NEVER been on the board of ALT5—not now, not ever. Any person with basic access to Google and willing to open a company’s annual report or proxy statements would know this,” he wrote.
He wrote he has “had zero involvement in any merger discussions involving any public entity I do not run or control.”
He added: “I have zero business interests in China. No properties, no investments, nothing!
“I joined this trip for one reason: as a loving son who adores my father and wouldn’t miss being by his side for this incredible moment. During the bilateral talks, @LaraLeaTrump and I went to the Great Wall of China.”
Asked about Eric Trump accompanying his father on the trip to China, a White House spokesperson told the Financial Times that the president “only acts in the best interests of the American public” and “there are no conflicts of interest.”
Psaki Fires Back
“Today, the adult son of the President of the United States, Eric Trump, came after us on social media and accused us of lying,” Psaki said on her show on Friday.
She said that he “specifically” took issue with being described “as a member of the board” of Alt5.
On her show on Friday, Psaki said Eric Trump’s comments were “confusing” given how he was introduced during Nasdaq’s opening bell ceremony in August last year.
“It is my great pleasure to welcome Alt5 board member Eric Trump,” the announcer said in a clip that Psaki aired.
Another clip shows Zack Witkoff, who alongside Eric Trump is one of the co-founders of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency business World Liberty Financial, which has earned the family hundred of millions of dollars. Witkoff was appointed chairman of Alt5 in August last year.
“I now want to welcome fellow board member and World Liberty co-founder, Eric Trump,” Witkoff said in the clip.
Psaki continued: “Now, to be as fair as possible to Eric, I should say that his role at Alt5 has, at the very least, been complicated. We do know that he’s not currently a director on the board, but as you just heard, the company initially announced that he was becoming a director on Alt5’s board of directors.”
She also noted that at one point, a company filing said he was being appointed as a director on the board and the company’s website had listed him as a director on its leadership page.
Bloomberg reported last month that Eric Trump’s name had disappeared from the leadership page of Alt5’s website, but that it has been there as recently as March.
But Psaki said the “important thing” was that Alt5 is “deeply intertwined with the Trump family cryptocurrency company that Eric Trump co-founded, World Liberty Financial.”
She noted that Eric Trump’s appearance at the Nasdaq opening came as Alt5 celebrated acquiring 7.5 percent of World Liberty Financial’s token supply. “It was a one and a half billion dollar deal,” Psaki said.
“So, Eric Trump says he has never been on the board of Alt Five, not now, not ever. Company that publicly introduced him as a board member at the Nasdaq, a company that in SEC filings has described him as a board observer, a company that bought hundreds of millions of dollars worth of World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency, a company that World Liberty Financial is a major stakeholder in, and a company that the Financial Times reported was chasing a deal with a Chinese firm that members of Congress say is connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
“Eric, of course, says that he has no business interests in China at all, and that he joined his dad’s official trip there for one reason and one reason alone: as a loving son who adores his dad. I’ll let you be the judge.”
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