Chapter 6 portrays the Washington environment following the 2016 election: instant opposition, calls for impeachment, and pushback from senior Democrats. Eric quotes coverage of Senator Chuck Schumer’s warning about criticizing intelligence agencies, particularly in the context of the supposed links between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence operatives, which Eric believes to be a malicious hoax. He bristles at the suggestion that neither he, his father, nor others are allowed “to question unelected bureaucrats and government employees” (94). At the same time, he credits his father for fighting back against “never-ending legal and political persecution” (110).

Eric describes a media-corporate symbiosis he believes aligned against the new administration. He notes that many retailers stopped carrying Trump-affiliated products and argues that these choices broadcast a signal to other institutions about the costs of association with the Trump family. Eric treats such moves as precursors to a broader posture, such as administrative investigations and civil actions that would follow. Against this backdrop, Eric recounts the White House’s learning curve and the necessary learning processes within the family. He positions his own remit as backstopping the organization, buffering employees and tenants from turbulence while political fires burned in Washington. He argues that attack vectors multiplied, including ethics complaints, subpoenas,  and discovery demands, which consumed time and resources. The chapter foreshadows later legal conflicts in New York and Georgia. He praises his father as a “fighter” (113).

Eric Trump recounts founding the Eric Trump Foundation in his early twenties to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He describes a lean, volunteer-driven operation that leverages Trump golf properties to minimize costs and maximize funds directed to pediatric cancer care. He highlights tactics such as vendor donations, in-kind event support, and traveling economy to keep the overall expense ratio near 9% during his decade as president of the foundation. This period of intense hands-on fundraising, repeated events, and growing partnerships made the foundation one of St. Jude’s largest noncorporate fundraisers, with early events raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and momentum accelerating thereafter. He calls the work the proudest of his career.

The chapter then shifts to 2017. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announces a press conference focused on Eric, and a subpoena arrives the same day, his first of what he says will become dozens. He situates the inquiry against a broader political backdrop, arguing that the Clinton Foundation was under scrutiny and that critics needed a “counternarrative” (120). He portrays the probe as headline-driven, alleging that he is accused of embezzling from sick children despite years of laudable results at St. Jude. He details months of document collection covering checks, returns, and records as part of the investigation.

He also notes external media coverage alleging that funds were improperly routed and references how those stories amplified the controversy. The investigation and reporting clash with his account of low overhead, volunteer labor, and no salaries for most of the foundation’s life. He contrasts those claims with the hospital’s recognition and with his own role on St. Jude’s advisory board. He takes inspiration from the cancer-stricken children to remind himself that, in spite of the challenges, he should never give up hope.

Eric Trump argues that pandemic-era voting changes in 2020, including widespread mail-in ballots, produced a razor-thin national outcome concentrated in a few states and left persistent doubts about the integrity of the electoral process. He contends that critics of the administration benefited from a media cycle in which early, false narratives set the tone even when later corrections arrived.

The chapter threads together claims about selective enforcement, institutional bias, and procedural maneuvers that Eric believes disadvantaged his family and movement. He portrays the election landscape as one where policy choices by states, combined with media framing and legal disputes, created an environment stacked against them. He closes by arguing that the lesson from 2020 is less about a single act than about compounded small acts and process choices. In Eric’s view, the remedy requires vigilance at every link in the chain, from voter rolls and ballot custody to public transparency and information ecosystems. After conceding defeat in the 2020 election, Donald Trump and his family return to Florida. Eric goes with them, but takes courage from the memory of his father dealing with problems in the 1990s.

As reflected in the title of the chapter, Eric Trump believes that prosecutors sought targets first and theories second in matters concerning his family. He traces a line from campaign-trail vows by New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the Trumps to subsequent civil and criminal matters touching the family and organization. He presents these as evidence of a prior determination to prosecute rather than to neutrally assess facts. He recounts Manhattan district attorney efforts to obtain Donald Trump’s tax records, culminating in the US Supreme Court’s 2020 Trump v. Vance decision, which rejected absolute immunity claims and allowed a state criminal subpoena to proceed. He frames the ruling as a major opening for local prosecutors and a significant moment in what he calls “corrupt lawfare” (153).

Eric also narrates the escalation of inquiries into the Trump Organization’s valuations and business practices, arguing that ordinary commercial disagreements over assets were recast as fraud claims. His narrative emphasizes continuity across offices and years, citing long-standing public antagonism and media coverage that—he says—primed the legal environment. He sees the process as driven by slogans that target individuals rather than justice, applying that maxim to the frequency of subpoenas, testimony demands, and public statements by elected prosecutors. Throughout, Eric describes his own role as executive and family member inside a matrix of compelled disclosures and testimony, asserting that the point was to pressure the inner circle to produce something chargeable. The guilty verdict and the ensuing appeals in a fraud case, Eric suggests, were a deliberate attempt to stop his father from running for President again. He believes the courts and politicians in New York wasted their time, time that could have been spent “making the state and city safer and more prosperous” (164).

Eric Trump opens with the May 30, 2024, New York verdict, in which his father was found guilty of 34 felony charges related to the falsification of business records to conceal hush money paid to the pornographic actress Stormy Daniels. His father’s immediate response that “the real verdict” (166) would come on November 5. He frames the outcome as the product of a broader “swamp” (166) that he says spies on rivals, constructs dossiers, interferes in elections, and uses bureaucratic power to shape outcomes, including ballot access fights in Colorado and Maine. He distinguishes frontline agents from political appointees, praising law enforcement officers while criticizing leadership he labels ideological or unqualified.

Eric describes the playbook used by those waging so-called lawfare against his family. He describes Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan as part of a “matrix of lawfare” (168) targeting the former president. He situates these moves within a network of media, political, and legal actors whose incentives align.

Eric Trump contrasts his father’s clarity about policy and personnel with what he portrays as Biden-era appointments that lack technical grounding. He cites a television exchange in which a White House adviser struggles with a monetary policy question, presents this as a snapshot of a broader pattern of incompetence. Eric highlights a 2023 withdrawal of the Biden FAA nominee after criticism, positioning the episode as emblematic of a talent pipeline that, in his view, underweights operational expertise. He also references coverage alleging large Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) grant outlays within the Department of Transportation and delays to air traffic control upgrades, situating these claims as evidence of incompetence within the Biden administration.

Running through the chapter is a contrast between what Eric describes as the Trump organization’s bias for performance and a Biden administration that, he argues, prizes credentials or politics over capability. He connects cultural communication, economic stewardship, and infrastructure oversight as arenas where personnel choices matter. Eric argues that weak appointments produce bad outcomes that feed the “siege” (191) atmosphere confronting his family and supporters. Eric views this as a threat to democracy and he urges “capable people” (197) like his readers to become involved in local politics to deal with this threat.