Trump says Trump Jr. would rather hunt 'in some jungle' than attend his memorial

President Donald Trump joked Sunday that his own son, Donald Trump Jr., would prefer to be “in some jungle” hunting than attend his memorial “when I kick the bucket someday,” while also issuing his son a warning that “wildlife always wins.”

Trump was speaking Sunday at the White House in Washington, D.C. and spoke at length about a memoir by James Jones chronicling his experience in the Amazon Rainforest in Peru, where he was bitten by a venomous snake.

While on the topic of dangerous wildlife, Trump shared what he called his own personal theory: “wildlife always wins,” which he repeated specifically for Trump Jr. to hear.

“I'm saying this for my son by the way because I have a son who would rather be in the jungle than any place on earth,” Trump said.

“When I kick the bucket someday, I think he'll be here for about two days, he'll go and pay his respects and we'll say 'where's Don' – he'd rather be in some jungle, and he's a really good hunter. But remember this: wildlife always wins, unfortunately as in this case.”

Trump Jr. is an avid big-game hunter, though has faced scrutiny over several of his hunting ventures, including his killing of an endangered sheep in 2019, a hunt that Humane World for Animals reported had cost American taxpayers $77,000. Trump Jr. has also faced accusations of illegally hunting a protected species of duck near Venice, Italy.

For well over a decade, Trump has made disparaging remarks about wildlife, particularly sharks, which in 2013 he declared to be “last on my list,” other than “perhaps the losers and haters of the world!” Trump made several disparaging remarks about sharks over the years, including on Sunday, where he suggested sharks that have attacked humans should be retaliated against.