Trump Family Nicknames, Exposed And Explained

Donald Trump has displayed plenty of the classic behaviors you'd expect from your average high school bully. Exhibit A: the nicknames he's doled out to his opponents and adversaries. But Donald Trump's shady nicknames for everyone are riddled with insecurity, and have backfired more than once, especially with the many monikers his rivals have bestowed onto him. 

However, the president isn't the only Trump to have had unflattering nicknames stick, as many of his family members have been christened with non-complimentary nicknames over the years. Some of the sobriquets within the Trump dynasty are courtesy of the public, but others were coined by White House staffers and family members themselves.  

It might be safe to say that Donald Trump's fondness for making up wild nicknames for his opponents has come back to bite him, especially in relation to the monikers some of his family members now bear. On podcasts and in tell-all books, former Trump insiders have revealed to the public a string of jaw-dropping monikers given to various Trump family members that range from hilarious to degrading, and we break them all down right here.

"Denture Donald," "DonOld," "Felon in Chief." The list of Donald Trump's nicknames is far longer than his list of felonies — and that takes some doing. Meanwhile, the internet and his adversaries keep coming up with more.

In an episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in June 2024, the host presented his audience with a whopping 78 nicknames for Donald Trump that included "Trumpelstiltskin," "Commander-in-Thief," and "His MAGA-sty." These nicknames speak for themselves and hint at the divisive politician's stature, crimes, and his apparent desperation to be crowned king. In typical fashion, the president enjoys handing out nicknames, but he doesn't do so well when he's the butt of the joke. As he kept changing his mind amid his tariff war, Donald Trump earned a new nickname from Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong: "TACO." It's an acronym for "Trump always chickens out," and when the president was asked about this moniker during an Oval Office briefing, he couldn't hide his displeasure at being called names. "We had a dead country, people didn't think it was going to survive, and you ask a nasty question like that," the president responded (via CNN). "Don't ever say what you said. That's a nasty question," he reiterated moments later.

One would be remiss not to mention the nickname Donald Trump's ex-wife, Ivana Trump, gave her former husband. It's one that's stuck, after all, especially among members of the press, and when she coined it, she clearly meant it to be complimentary and an ode to her spouse's fortitude in real estate. "The Donald" is the moniker Ivana bestowed upon her husband.

When it comes to some of the most brutal nicknames that have been given to the women in Donald Trump's orbit, Ivanka Trump certainly hasn't been spared. Becoming an advisor to the president during her father's first term led to a slew of criticism, and Ivanka accidentally let it slip that she really didn't understand what all the fuss was about when people were accusing her of being "complicit" with the president. Ivanka replied that she had no idea what they meant. "I don't know what it means to be complicit," she admitted during a 2017 interview with CBS News, adding, "If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact then I'm complicit." By the time 2020 rolled around, netizens were calling Ivanka "Complicit Barbie."

Melania Trump also burdened Ivanka with a nickname. Author Mary Jordan first revealed this tidbit of information in her 2020 tome, "The Art of Her Deal," claiming Melania called Ivanka "The Princess" behind her back because she didn't like her attitude. Before the book was published, scuttlebutt had made the rounds that Melania and Ivanka don't have the closest of relationships. In both instances, Melania's former chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, decried the rumors. Ironically, she would later confirm the nickname in her own book, "I'll Take Your Questions Now."

Additionally, Jordan claimed that some White House staffers would refer to Ivanka as "The Princess Royal" behind her back. It might be safe to say their reasons for doing so were the same as Melania's. The sobriquet gained traction after the first daughter momentarily stood in for her father during the 2017 G20 Summit.

It appears that in the Trump family, tit for tat is the status quo. Melania Trump might have christened her stepdaughter with an unflattering nickname, but Ivanka Trump returned the favor in full. Gossip about Melania Trump's relationship with Ivanka continued to make the rounds even after Donald Trump's first term ended. Mary Jordan's 2020 book, "The Art of Her Deal," claimed that Ivanka had taken to calling Melania names behind her back. The label the first daughter reportedly came up with? "The Portrait." The name was inspired by Melania's preference for speaking only when absolutely necessary. CNN correspondent Kate Bennett told Business Insider at the time that Melania and Ivanka were in no way close and simply tolerated each other.

Of course, while initially denying that Jordan's claims had any merit, Melania's former chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, would later confirm the nickname in her book, "I'll Take Your Questions Now," and reveal another. In 2021, Grisham's book made headlines, revealing that the Secret Service had taken to calling Melania "Rapunzel" because she preferred to stay holed up in the White House residence for most of her husband's first term, rarely stepping outside. Grisham added that agents weren't complaining about this. In fact, they all wanted to be assigned to the first lady simply because it left them with a lot of free time on their hands.

Melania Trump's nicknames didn't stop with her stepdaughter. It seems the first lady isn't a big fan of Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared Kushner, either. This tidbit of information also became public courtesy of Stephanie Grisham, who admitted in "I'll Take Your Questions Now" that she was complicit in the nickname Melania doled out to both Ivanka and Kushner.

"When I worked for the first lady in the East Wing, we had all come to call Jared and Ivanka 'the interns' because they represented in our minds obnoxious, entitled know-it-alls," Grisham penned. "Mrs. Trump found that nickname amusing and occasionally used it herself." Grisham added that, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Ivanka and Kushner proved they were worthy of their shared moniker, fumbling the administration's response to the Covid-19 pandemic and trying to call the shots even though it wasn't their place to do so. "I had shared with Mrs. Trump many times my opinion that if we lost reelection in 2020 it would be because of Jared. She didn't disagree with me," Grisham wrote.

Melania's office denied Grisham's claims, asserting that her book was nothing but sour grapes. "It is an attempt to redeem herself after a poor performance as press secretary, failed personal relationships, and unprofessional behavior in the White House," the statement read, per the Independent. Donald Trump also weighed in on X via his spokesperson Liz Harrington, claiming Grisham was getting "paid by a radical left-leaning publisher to say bad and untrue things."

"The Intern" isn't the only nickname Stephanie Grisham had bestowed upon Jared Kushner. She also called him the "Slim Reaper." Grisham made it clear in "I'll Take Your Questions Now" that she thought Kushner wholly unqualified to do his job, and yet he was incredibly confident in his own abilities. If Grisham's account is to be believed, Kushner's work proved his incompetence, hence the nickname.

As the former White House aide described it, Kushner had a gift for undoing the good work of his colleagues, decimating their efforts and effectively turning the White House upside down. Kushner can't take full credit for the chaos either; Grisham noted that the Trump White House was "like a clown car on fire running at full speed into a warehouse full of fireworks." Kushner was simply part of a bigger problem. However, his inability to do his job well seemed to shine through in his personal life.

Kushner made headlines in February 2018 after it came to light that his White House clearance had been downgraded, that he was in financial trouble, and couldn't hold his own in a room with foreign officials. To top it off, he also had the FBI knocking at his door asking uncomfortable questions about his financial dealings.

While some Trump family members have unflattering nicknames, they can be thankful they didn't get stuck with the kind of moniker the eldest Trump son has had to bear. The brutal nickname Donald Trump Jr. reportedly had in his college days is as savage as they come, and unfortunately, it rolls right off the tongue.

Donald Jr. was known for engaging in some debauchery in his youth, and didn't deal so well with the aftermath of said debauchery, which landed him the nickname he can't shake. In the 2018 book "Born Trump," author Emily Jane Fox wrote that Donald Jr.'s fellow college students took to calling him "Diaper Don" because of his urinary habits while drunk. "Diaper Don would wake up in some stranger's dorm room or off-campus apartment or bedroom in his frat house, covered in p***, walk back to his own room, and get blitzed that evening or the next anew," Fox penned. Donald Jr. himself has previously admitted that he overindulged during his college days. "To be fairly candid, I used to drink a lot and party pretty hard," he told New York Magazine in 2004. "And it wasn't something that I was particularly good at. I mean, I was good at it, but I couldn't do it in moderation."

Donald Jr. had another unflattering nickname in high school, one that, unfortunately, ties in nicely with "Diaper Don." In yearbook photos that made the rounds on the internet in 2020, Donald Jr.'s high school nickname was made public. His classmates called him "Stank." As far as nicknames are concerned, Donald Jr. has been dealt a very bad hand.

Eric Trump shares some burden with the rest of his family when it comes to unforgiving nicknames. In 2020, Eric's high school yearbook picture made the rounds, and his bestowed sobriquet was made public.

Eric was nicknamed "Choad," a moniker he reportedly earned after calling an opposing team mate by the name during a hockey game. For some reason, the name became his after that fateful day. For those not familiar with the meaning of the name, Collins Dictionary defines it as a "vulgar term for penis or perineum used as a derogatory insult." One can add this little tidbit of information about his childhood days to the list of strange facts about Eric Trump we can't ignore.

Getting christened with a nasty nickname seems to be a rite of passage in the Trump family, so it shouldn't astound anyone that Lara Trump was called some unfavorable names behind her back by some members of the very family she married into.

This little nugget of information came to light after Donald Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, spilled some Trump family secrets on his "Political Beatdown" podcast with Ben Meiselas. "They used to refer to Lara Trump, before she married Eric, as 'Horseface,'" Cohen disclosed. "Not only did Donald used to do that, but so did Donald Jr. and so did Ivanka when they were referring to her." Cohen pointed out that he thought this behavior "cruel." The president also used the same nickname for Stormy Daniels in a 2018 tweet.

This is perhaps why the president's daughter-in-law has changed her appearance so much since she entered the famous family. Lara Trump is completely unrecognizable in throwback pictures before her rumored plastic surgery, and even some of her fans have pointed this out online. In a 2025 X post, one netizen wrote, "Love Lara Trump did she have some bad plastic surgery. She doesn't look the same, her face looks strange. I'm not being mean." Another tweeted, "Ugh! She looked so much better before she had all that work done."

Donald Trump's granddaughter, Kai Trump, is the luckiest family member as far as nicknames are concerned. However, her moniker might be somewhat of an embarrassment to her these days, given that she's no longer a kid. Her father, Donald Trump Jr., seems to forget this every now and then.

In a 2018 Instagram post, Donald Jr. posted a snap of him cuddling with a 9-year-old Kai, captioning the snap, "No matter what is going on bedtime cuddling with the smurf puts a Yuge smile on my face." Even the most ardent critic has to agree that the nickname was kind of sweet. But fast-forward to 2025, and Donald Jr. accidentally revealed to the world that he still calls his daughter "The Smurf" even though she's technically an adult.

Kai made a YouTube video commemorating her grandfather's second inauguration, and her father made a quick appearance after Kai asked him whether he wanted to speak to her followers. "Yes, I want to say something," Donald Jr. said. "I love this little Smurf so much, and I'm proud of her. Kai didn't seem too embarrassed by the name. After all, she chose to include it in the final video.