In new book, Mary Trump says Donald Trump appeared 'afraid' after COVID-19 hospitalization
In The Reckoning, the follow-up to her 2020 memoir Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, Mary Trump argues that her uncle Donald Trump's presidency helped push the United States toward "an even darker period in our nation's history."
The book has been seen by The Guardian, which reports that Mary Trump writes extensively about how Americans are collectively experiencing trauma because of Donald Trump and his "assault on democracy." She also describes what it was like watching on television last October when her uncle was released from the hospital after spending three days receiving treatment for a severe case of COVID-19.
Trump was flown back to the White House by helicopter, and after landing on the South Lawn, made his way up to the Truman Balcony. His niece writes that when he ripped his mask off, Trump was doing his "best Mussolini imitation," and what he thought was a "macho display of invulnerability" looked familiar to her.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"He clenched his teeth and jutted out his jaw, just as my grandmother did when she was biting back anger or clamping down on her pain," Mary Trump writes. "In Donald, I saw the latter." Mary Trump said she has asthma, and as such is "acutely aware of what it looks like when somebody is struggling to breathe. He was in pain, he was afraid, but he would never admit that to anybody — not even himself. Because, as always, the consequences of admitting vulnerability were much more frightening to him than being honest." Read more at The Guardian.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Film reviews: ‘Marty Supreme’ and ‘Is This Thing On?’Feature A born grifter chases his table tennis dreams and a dad turns to stand-up to fight off heartbreak
-
Political cartoons for December 14Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a new White House flag, Venezuela negotiations, and more
-
Heavenly spectacle in the wilds of CanadaThe Week Recommends ‘Mind-bending’ outpost for spotting animals – and the northern lights
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
