Eric Trump says his father sent him to work on construction sites earning minimum wage when he was 11 or 12

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Eric Trump, the middle son of ex-President Donald Trump, told Senate hopeful Kari Lake that he had worked on construction sites as a child “making minimum wage” at the direction of his father.

“What kind of a dad was he?” the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate asked on “The Kari Lake Show”. “I can’t imagine you guys got away with a lot. Or, was he constantly telling you guys how to behave or was it pretty hands off?”

The former president’s son said his father was “strict,” had “high expectations of us,” and “made us work very very hard.”

“I was on construction sites when I was 11, 12 years old,” the younger Mr Trump continued, adding that he recalled “breaking down walls, sheetrock, plumbing.”

“So you know how a skyscraper is built?” Ms Lake asked.

“We were making minimum wage and he put us on those sites because my father cared about work ethic,” he responded. “There was no free time, there was no nonsense.”

“If you want a bike, you’re going to go work for it,” Mr Trump said of his father’s rules, adding that the strict regimen helped keep him and his siblings out of trouble. “You start working at 6:30 in the morning on a construction site, you finish at 4. You’re exhausted. You don’t have time to go out and party,” he recalled.

“Second of all, if you’re making minimum wage, the last thing you’re going to spend your money on is booze and drugs. So not only did he hire you out and teach you a skill, but he didn’t let you have the funds you needed to otherwise partake in awful habits or whatever you want to call them,” he said.

“He was an amazing father.”