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.
-
The best homes of the yearFeature Featuring a former helicopter engine repair workshop in Washington, D.C. and high-rise living in San Francisco
-
Critics’ choice: The year’s top 10 moviesFeature ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘It Was Just an Accident’ stand out
-
The small Caribbean island courting crypto billionsUnder the Radar Crypto mogul Olivier Janssens plans to create a libertarian utopia on Nevis
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
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
