Tristan Thompson admitted his friendship with Eric Trump is one that people “wouldn’t expect,” but they are “very close.”
“He’s been actually great for me,” Thompson, 35, said of Trump, 42, during the Tuesday, March 31, episode of the “Katie Miller” podcast. “He’s actually been like a very big brother, mentor [figure].”
Thompson noted that President Donald Trump’s son has been “very welcoming” toward him since they met. (Donald, 79, sons Donald Jr., 48, and Eric, and daughter Ivanka, 44, with late ex-wife Ivana Trump. The president also shares daughter Tiffany, 32, with ex-wife Marla Maples and son Barron, 20, with wife Melania Trump.)
“Especially from the political government world [he’s] really put his arm around me,” the NBA player said, noting that with Eric’s guidance it has “helped motivate me to want to dive into this realm a little bit more. I love him for that.”
Thompson didn’t reveal how he first crossed paths with Eric, a businessman and political activist, but he did share another connection to the Trump family he had.
When podcast host Katie Miller asked Thompson which celebrity he was “starstruck” to meet, he pointed to a moment where he was in the presence of former President Barack Obama and Donald Sr. at the same time.
“I would say maybe not starstruck but [someone I was] very excited to meet would be President Obama and First Lady Michelle [Obama],” Thompson recalled. “Because, I think, my mom was there with me. It was when we won the championship.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers center — who won the 2016 NBA Championship with the team — noted that when he met Barack, 64, it was during a time of change at the White House.
“Funny enough, the same day we went to the White House visit was the same day President Trump actually flew to the White House for the first time,” Thompson, who shares daughter True, 7, and son Tatum, 3, with ex-girlfriend Khloé Kardashian, shared. “When President Obama was coming to speak with us I saw President Trump walking the back halls.” (Thompson also shares son Prince, 9, with ex Jordan Craig and son Theo, 4, with Maralee Nichols.)
Thompson confirmed that it was after Donald Sr. won his first term as president in fall 2016 and he appeared to be there for a meeting before Barack left office.
President Obama was the 44th President of the United States. He served from 2009 to 2017. President Trump became the 45th President of the United States in 2017 after winning the election the prior fall. After he left office in 2021, President Joe Biden became the 46th Commander in Chief.
In January 2025, Donald Sr. returned to the Oval Office as the 47th President of the U.S.
