Donald Trump Jr is under investigation by Italian authorities amid claims that he shot a protected duck during a hunting trip.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Venice has launched a probe to determine whether Don Jr, 47, illegally shot an orange plumed Ruddy Shelduck last December, local newspaper La Nuova Venezia reported.
The local magistrate opened the investigation on February 9 following a legal complaint by regional Green politician Andrea Zanoni and various environmental associations.
Zanoni based his complaint on a video allegedly taken during Trump’s hunting trip in the Venice lagoon in which the First Son discusses the number of ducks he shot.
At one point in the video, Trump is surrounded by an array of dead birds including an unusual amber colored duck which he says: ‘Is a rather uncommon bird in the area. I’m not even sure what it is.’
A spokesman for Don Jr said the First Son ‘takes all hunting rules and regulations very seriously’ and ‘plans to cooperate fully with any investigation’.
The representative also noted that currently ‘it is unclear whether this individual duck was accidentally killed by someone in Don’s hunting party, another hunting party, or was killed in another manner and retrieved by the party’s hunting dog.’
But Zanoni told The Times that it ‘doesn’t matter’ who or what killed the duck because the ‘law also applies to anyone found in possession of a protected species that has been hunted’, adding: ‘Don Jr showed the world in the video that the duck was in his possession’.
Don Jr is surrounded by an array of dead birds including an unusual amber coloured duck which he says: ‘Is a rather uncommon bird in the area. I’m not even sure what it is’
In the almost six-minute footage Don Jr is seen popping out of foxhole – in his camouflage gear – shooting at the ducks with several falling from the sky
In the almost six-minute footage, shot just before Christmas Trump is seen popping out of a foxhole – in his camouflage gear – shooting at the ducks with several falling from the sky.
He is joined by a group of half a dozen other men who are enjoying their time in the marshes of north-eastern Italy.
One participant in the hunt says: ‘It was a great duck shoot with a little bit of good eating in Venice,’ and ends with one shooter saying: ‘Don got about 50.’
Another shot in the clip shows Trump surrounded by an array of dead birds, including an unidentified duck that experts allege is a Ruddy Shelduck, a rare species that is protected in Europe and reportedly believed to have a declining population.
The video has sparked controversy in Italy, with Zanoni having accused Trump of breaking a number of laws in the country.
Zanoni, in a report by Corriere Del Veneto earlier this month, claimed that Don Jr killed a protected species without a regular license and also hunted in a conservation area protected by the European Union.
He alleged the video was filmed recently in the Pierimpie valley south of the city of Venice. The area is a special conservation area protected by European regulations that is known as the Middle Lower Lagoon of Venice.
Donald Trump is shown hunting with a gun in a photo posted September 24, 2019 on Instagram with caption: Great weekend afield
Zanoni added: ‘Like any foreigner, in Italy he was not allowed to hunt by law. In fact, in our country only residents of one of the Italian regions can hunt.’
‘You need a hunting license issued by the police headquarters, but above all you need a hunting license issued only and exclusively to residents of one of the Italian regions, a mandatory document where you can note the date, place of hunting and quantity of animals killed divided by individual species.’
Zanoni also said he lodged a complaint to the judiciary because ‘Veneto and Italy are not the property of the USA.’
But Trump’s spokesman Andy Surabian told DailyMail.com previously insisted that ‘Don and his group had all the proper permits and were hunting in a legally allowed area, where there were countless other hunting groups present.
‘While it’s unclear whether this single duck was unintentionally shot by someone in Don’s hunting group, another hunting group or killed in a different manner and retrieved by the groups hunting dog.’
He added that ‘Don takes following all rules, regulations and conservation on his hunts very seriously and plans on fully cooperating with any investigation’.
Monica Sambo, of Democratic Party of Venice, previously told MailOnline: ‘If Trump Junior’s involvement is confirmed, we hope he will be prosecuted like any other citizen.’
‘What has been reported is a very serious matter, it is unacceptable that protected species are being killed in the Venice lagoon, a protected environment that should be protected,’ she added.
Trump was in Venice with his long time girlfriend Bettina Anderson who posted several pictures of their stay in the lagoon city on her Instagram, including a romantic night time gondola ride. He and Anderson are pictured at Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Super Bowl party on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in New Orleans
Bettina Anderson, 38, posted a flurry of snaps to her Instagram stories in December of a gun and hunting dog as she teases participating in one of Don Jr.’s favorite pastimes
Trump was in Venice with his long time girlfriend Bettina Anderson who posted several pictures of their stay in the lagoon city on her Instagram, including a romantic night time gondola ride.
In June 2020, Don Jr found himself at the center of another hunting controversy when an investigation discovered the businessman had shot and killed a rare Argali mountain sheep in 2019.
The BBC reported at the time that he only got permission for the shooting from the Mongolian government retroactively.
The controversy is unlikely to dampen the warm relations between President Donald Trump and Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
During Trump’s inauguration Meloni was one of a handful of world leaders who attended the ceremony.
Earlier in January, Meloni visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home. Speaking to reporters at the time Trump called his Italian counterpart ‘a fantastic woman’ who is ‘really taken Europe by storm, and everyone else’.
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