The world has been eagerly waiting for the new memoir by Mary Trump, President Donald Trump's niece, to hit shelves. It's been in such high demand, that Simon & Schuster just announced it will be releasing the book two weeks early, on July 14. And now we're finding out more about what's inside, especially when it comes to President Trump's father.
In the book, the 55-year-old psychologist offers a unique and rare glimpse into the president's early life, which she was very much a part of. Some of the most shocking details the book will reveal are in regard to Donald Trump's father, Fred, and the damaging and abusive relationship the author says he had with his son.
She writes that Fred Trump was a workaholic and that Donald “suffered deprivations that would scar him for life” at his father’s hands. The picture she paints sounds incredibly disturbing, and it’s really the most up-close look we’ve had into the president’s life as a child.
The book is called Too Much and Never Enough — a title that points directly to the author's claims about the child abuse young Donald was allegedly subjected to. The back of the book gives some insight into the story Mary will tell. It reads, "Today, Donald Trump 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 and synthesize information."
They are incredibly stark words, but Mary says Donald's worldview was shaped by his painfully damaging upbringing. From his mother becoming ill when he was only 2 to having a father who was incapable of love, Donald was severely traumatized by his childhood.
She writes, "His father, Fred, became his only available parent. But Fred firmly believed that dealing with young children was not his duty, and kept to his twelve-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week job at Trump Management, as if his children could look after themselves."
She continues, "From the beginning, Fred's self-interest skewed his priorities and his care of children reflected his own needs, not theirs. He could not empathize with Donald's plight, so his son's fears and longings went unsoothed. Love meant nothing to Fred; he expected obedience, that was all. Over time, Donald became afraid that asking for comfort or attention would provoke his father's anger or indifference when Donald was most vulnerable."
According to the picture Mary paints, it sounds like fear was instilled in Donald at an early age. "That Fred would become the primary source of Donald's solace when he was much more likely to be a source of fear or rejection put Donald in an intolerable position: total dependence on a caregiver who also caused him terror. Donald suffered deprivations that would scar him for life."
She also says that the family relied on cheating as a way of life and that kindness and empathy were often punished. She also claims that Donald paid someone to take the SATs for him.
If certainly sounds like a brutal way to be raised. Mary says that she observed these horrible truths up close. She spent a great deal of time with Donald and the rest of his family while she was growing up.
Mary Trump is the child of Donald's brother, Fred Jr., who was an alcoholic, which the president has spoken openly about before in various interviews. Eventually, Fred Jr.'s alcoholism led to his death in 1981. He was in his early 40s.
While Mary is still part of the Trump family, she obviously feels it's important to be transparent about her observations, and she clearly doesn't care about the backlash. Growing up, she spent a great deal of time at her grandparents' home in Queens, New York, with Donald. Therefore, she observed a lot and can speak to events that few other people would be privy to.
Of course, the book has been highly scrutinized. Donald Trump has been fighting hard to keep it from being published at all. Mary signed 20 years ago to settle a dispute over the estate of her grandfather, Fred Sr., which Trump says should prevent her from publishing the book, but she and her publishers disagree.
The book will undoubtedly drop some bombshells about the president's upbringing. But it's not the only book release that the president has been fighting. Former national security adviser John Bolton also just dropped an explosive tell-all memoir about his time working with the president. A federal judge decided against blocking that book's release.
While readers will have to decide what to believe and just how to interpret the claims in Mary's book, it definitely offers some stunning insight that is hard to turn away from. The president's critics feel he is cold and uncaring. He is often called narcissistic. However anyone feels about him personally, this book certainly offers some enlightening explanations for just how that kind of character could be formed.
