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The new grandson of President-elect Donald Trump’s hand-picked special envoy to the Middle East has been named after Trump.
“Congratulations to Zach and Sophi Witkoff on the birth of their son, Don James Witkoff (DJW), named after me (Thank you!),” Trump, 78, revealed on Truth Social.
Don James is the grandson of Steve Witkoff, a longtime Trump real-estate buddy from New York City who is on tap to be the prez-elect’s special Mideast rep.
“I wish them the best today, the day of DJW’s Bris,” Trump added of Don James’ parents and the baby. “Don will have a great, beautiful, and successful life. This will be, because of him, a very important date as the years go by!”
Trump was golfing with Witkoff, 67, on the day of the second major assassination attempt against him in September.
Within a week of his 2024 electoral victory, Trump announced that he would designate Witkoff as his special envoy to the Middle East, teeing up his longtime friend to help deal with the region at a tumultuous time.
During Trump’s re-election campaign, Witkoff was already playing the role of peacemaker, reaching out to former 2024 GOP hopeful Nikki Haley in a bid to mend fences between her and Trump.
“His best friend, Steve Witkoff, came to our house in South Carolina, spoke to me and my husband, and basically wanted a truce between me and Donald Trump,” Haley recounted on her SiriusXM show, “Nikki Haley Live,” last month.
“I told him at the time there was no truce needed, that Trump had my support. There was no issues on my end. At that point, he was like, ‘What do you want? Tell me what you want. Is there anything you want?’ I said, ‘There’s nothing I want.’ ”
Some outside observers and strategists believed at the time that Haley would be able to help Trump shore up support among key blocs of voters where his support was soft — such as suburban women.
Witkoff, who is the founder and CEO of the real-estate firm Witkoff Group, donated to Trump’s campaign during the 2024 contest.
In terms of the Mideast, over the summer, Witkoff hailed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress, calling the address “strong” and “epic,” while bashing the handful of Democrats who boycotted it.
Trump has been stacking his next administration with stalwart allies of Israel, which finds itself still battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Israel allies-turned-designees include proposed Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and suggested US Ambassador to the United Nations Elise Stefanik, a congresswoman from New York who has been a proud defender of Trump during her time in the House.
Witkoff has already begun prepping for his new role as Middle East envoy. He recently embarked on a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he conferred with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Wednesday, Axios reported.
Don James Witkoff is not the only person who has been named after the president-elect. His eldest son Donald Trump Jr. was named after him as well.
