Documentary filmmaker who had access to Trump and his kids compared their dynamics to the family on HBO's 'Succession'
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
- A documentary filmmaker given special access to the Trump family has weighed in on their dynamic.
- Alex Holder compared Trump's and his adult children — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka, and Eric — to a "real life succession drama."
- "It's sort of got this, like, 'Succession'-type vibe," Holder said of their interactions.
A British documentary filmmaker who was granted exclusive access to the Trump family ahead of the Capitol riot has weighed in on the relationships between Trump and his three most famous adult children — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka and Eric.
Speaking to Yahoo News on the outlet's podcast, "Skullduggery," Alex Holder said the family agreed to be filmed because they were "very, very confident they were going to win the election" and that their "hubris was just absolutely remarkable."
Asked how he sold his project to the family, Holder said: "I mean, the pitch was I wanted to understand who they were as people. They had always complained about the coverage that they were getting in the US."
"They were always complaining about the 'fake news media' and all that. So, let's try and understand who they are as people," he added.
Holder also likened the relationship between Trump and his high-profile children to the hit HBO series "Succession," which centers on the dysfunctional and incredibly wealthy Roy family and its continuous scheming for control among its members.
"And I'm speaking specifically about Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump, and then the president himself, and the interactions they have with each other, and the interaction they have with their father," Holder said.
"It's sort of got this, like, 'Succession'-type vibe in the project," Holder said. "But also, you know, it is a real-life succession drama."
Based on his interactions with the former president, Holder said he thought Trump was "delusional" and lives in "cloud cuckoo land." He added that he believed Trump was also "incredibly dangerous" because he never accepts blame and is "always right."
"Donald Trump is not a rational player. I mean, he just isn't," Holder said. "You can't have a conversation with him in the same way that you can have a conversation with most other people. He is somebody that lives in a different reality."
Representatives at Trump's post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Holder's footage was subpoenaed by the January 6 committee investigating the Capitol riot in June. The footage is part of a documentary called "Unprecedented," which follows Trump and those in his inner circle in the months before the Capitol riot.
A trailer of the documentary also includes interviews with Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and former Vice President Mike Pence.