Mary Trump, the daughter of the president’s late brother Fred Trump Jr., is soon to unleash her tell-all book about her famous family.
But the fate of “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man”, is far from certain.
A lawsuit has been filed against the book by the president’s younger brother, Robert Trump, citing a 20-year-old non-disclosure agreement Mary Trump signed after dividing the inheritance of Fred Trump, effectively forbidding her from discussing family issues in print.
A temporary restraining order was placed against the president’s niece, barring her from releasing the book – but not her publisher. Mary Trump and her lawyers are arguing that there is a legal basis for Trump to release her work.
The book's fate will ultimately be decided by the New York Supreme Court, but copies have already been sent out across the country. Many now note, citing the example of John Bolton’s autobiography, that it’s unlikely that the judges would seek to prevent the book from seeing the light of day.
Mary’s book is perhaps even more anticipated than that of the former national security advisor, as it is set to focus extensively on the president’s personal rather than professional qualities.
Here are some of the most interesting and perhaps shocking claims about the president made by the book:
- Father Issues? The back cover of the book, as revealed by publisher Simon & Schuster, suggests that Donald Trump’s father Fred was quite a cold person, who just “expected obedience” and did not show much-needed love to his children. “Donald suffered deprivations that would scar him for life”, it is claimed. The passages of the book on the president’s “high-functioning sociopath” father go as far as to argue that Fred Trump Sr. “perverted his son’s perception of the world and damaged his ability to live in it” by “rendering” many of his feelings “unacceptable”. It is said that Donald Trump’s personality “served his father’s purpose”.
On the back cover of the book Trump's niece Mary writes: "Today, Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning, or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in & synthesize information." pic.twitter.com/9pTVJmT1c0
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 6, 2020 - Brother’s Lonely Death. According to Mary Trump her father was never the favourite child of family patriarch Fred Trump Sr., who used to criticise his oldest son in front of other employees and pick up on his alleged flaws, reportedly saying that Donald was “worth 10” of him. Fred Trump Jr. was also a heavy drinker who died alone in hospital from an alcohol-related heart attack in 1981. Mary said that her uncle went to see a movie that night.
- ‘Twisted Values’. It was expected that as a trained clinical psychologist Mary Trump would attempt to assess her uncle’s personal qualities. She is clearly not a fan though. In the book, she refers to POTUS as a “toxic” man with “twisted” values. Some of these include evaluating people only in “monetary terms”, a belief in “cheating as a way of life” and a “taking responsibility for your failures is discouraged” credo.
- Exam Cheater? The president’s niece also claims, to the shock of many, that Donald Trump followed his “cheating” principle while studying at Queens High School. According to Ms. Trump, the president did not sit his own SAT exam, but rather paid someone named Joe Shapiro to do this for him. He thus managed to get a place at Wharton business school at the University of Pennsylvania later to his high test scores, his niece says. It is also claimed that the president’s eldest sister, former Judge of the Court of Appeals Maryanne Trump Barry, who is said to have occasionally been doing her brother’s homework during his years at Fordham University. She also reportedly dubbed Donald a “clown” who had “no principles” in conversations with her niece.
Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has called “Too Much and Never Enough” a “book of falsehoods”, despite admitting that she has not yet had a chance to look at the manuscript herself.
