Ronald Smith is trying to maintain his relationship with his stepson Daniel despite the distance between them, but in a recent episode of 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, Ronald tried to manipulate Daniel during a video chat. Many fans feel that Tiffany Franco chose poorly when she married Ronald, and in in his conversation with Daniel, Ronald proved them right. The requests he made of Daniel were completely inappropriate and may end up damaging his relationship with his stepson.
After 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, Tiffany and Ronald have been trying to make their relationship work, but it hasn’t been going well. After a brief split the couple reunited, though on Happily Ever After? they’re still balancing life between America and South Africa. Tiffany and the kids were supposed to visit Ronald in South Africa, but at the last minute Tiffany canceled the tickets because she was upset that Ronald wasn’t contributing more financially.
During his recent talk with Daniel, Ronald mentioned that the K1-visa process was going slowly because of COVID-19. But the conversation changed when Ronald tried to turn Donald against his mother. “Your mommy doesn’t wanna come here,” he told Daniel. “So you gotta speak to your mom more often and ask her ‘Mommy, when are we going to South Africa? When are we going to South Africa?’ You must ask her everyday.” Daniel became visibly uncomfortable and didn’t like the idea of moving to South Africa permanently.
It’s obviously difficult to keep his family together while living in different countries, but Ronald never should have put Daniel in that position. Kids aren’t stupid, and when you ask them to do something shady, they often pick up on it. Clearly, Daniel did and felt uncomfortable with being asked to manipulate his mom that way. Adults should never ask a child to lie for them or do something sneaky the way Ronald did, full stop.
Ronald’s requests of Daniel could come back to haunt him, because Daniel could grow to resent Ronald for putting him in uncomfortable situations. Though Tiffany and Ronald reconciled, the way Ronald manipulated Daniel creates an "us versus mommy" dynamic, and Daniel could grow to distrust Tiffany, Ronald, or both of them. Ronald was essentially trying to weaponize his wife’s love for her son as a way to convince her to move to South Africa, and Daniel wasn’t having it.
The way Ronald treated Daniel on 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? was a total misstep. It was abundantly clear that Daniel was uncomfortable with Ronald’s request to manipulate his mother, and he was right to feel that way. Ronald never should have asked that of his stepson, and hopefully it was a one-time mistake. If he does continue to manipulate Daniel, however, he could be damaging their relationship beyond repair.