Trump
told nephew to let his disabled son die, then move to Florida, book says
Fred C Trump
III calls comment ‘appalling’ in new book All in the Family, to be published
next week
Martin
Pengelly in Washington
Wed 24 Jul
2024 11.07 EDT
https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/24/trump-nephew-book-disabled-son-die
Donald Trump
told his nephew he should let his disabled son die, then “move down to
Florida”, the nephew writes in a new book, calling the comment “appalling”.
“Wait!” Fred
C Trump III writes. “What did he just say? That my son doesn’t recognise me?
That I should just let him die?
“Did he
really just say that?”
The shocking
exchange is described in All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way,
which will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.
The book
also includes a description of the former US president and current Republican
nominee using the N-word, news that dropped into a presidential election in
which Trump faces Kamala Harris, the first woman of colour to be
vice-president.
On Wednesday
morning, Time published an extract detailing Trump’s callous remark about his
disabled great-nephew.
It came days
after family members at the Republican national convention portrayed Trump as a
“very caring and loving” grandfather and family man.
But Trump
family history is complicated.
Fred C Trump
III is the son of Fred Trump Jr, Donald Trump’s older brother who died aged 43
in 1981. A successful New York real estate executive in his own right, Fred
Trump III is with his wife Lisa a campaigner for rights for disabled people
like their son, William.
In 2020,
Fred Trump III’s sister, Mary Trump, published her own tell-all memoir, Too
Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.
Fred Trump III distanced himself from that book but it included the story of
how Donald Trump and his siblings effectively disinherited Fred Trump III and
Mary Trump, then cut off funding for William’s care.
The case was
settled in 2001. In his own book, Fred Trump III describes a call to his uncle
after the White House funeral of Robert Trump, the then president’s younger
brother, in 2020.
Fred Trump
III says Donald Trump was then “the only one” of the older Trumps still
“contributing consistently” to William’s care.
He contacted
his uncle even though he “really didn’t look forward to these calls” and “in
many ways … felt I was asking for money I should have originally received from
my grandfather” – Fred Trump Sr, the New York construction magnate whose will
prompted the family feud.
Fred Trump
III says he called Donald Trump after seeing him at Briarcliff, a family golf
club in Westchester county, New York. He says he described his son’s needs,
increasing costs for his care, and “some blowback” from Trump’s siblings.
“Donald took
a second as if he was thinking about the whole situation,” Fred Trump III
writes.
“‘I don’t
know,’” he finally said, letting out a sigh. ‘He doesn’t recognise you. Maybe
you should just let him die and move down to Florida.’”
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Fred Trump
III writes: “Wait! What did he just say? That my son doesn’t recognise me? That
I should just let him die? Did he really just say that? That I should let my
son die … so I could move down to Florida? Really?”
Fred Trump
III says he shouldn’t have been surprised, since he had recently heard his
uncle say similar in an Oval Office meeting with doctors and advocates for
disabled rights.
At that
meeting, also in 2020, Trump “sounded interested and even concerned”, Fred
Trump III writes.
“I thought
he had been touched by what the doctor and advocates in the meeting had just
shared about their journey with their patients and their own family members.
But I was wrong.”
“‘Those
people …’ Donald said, trailing off. ‘The shape they’re in, all the expenses,
maybe those kinds of people should just die.’”
On that
occasion, Fred Trump III writes, he “truly did not know what to say. He was
talking about expenses. We were talking about human lives … I turned and walked
away.”
On the later
call about William, Fred Trump III writes, his uncle said the same thing: “Only
that time, it was other people’s children who should die. This time, it was my
son.”
Fred Trump
III says he pushed back but avoided an argument. Nonetheless, he says “Donald’s
comment was appalling”, adding: “It hurt to hear him say that.”
“Acceptance
and tolerance would only come with public education and awareness,” Fred Trump
III writes. “Donald might never understand this.”
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